The local business directory website Yelp has made its local search data available to national advertisers in the US. Brands and enterprises can now buy local search data from demand-side platforms and exchanges, in order to improve the targeting of their advertising campaigns. Yelp is useful to advertisers because its users are very near the end of the sales funnel, with high levels of intent to purchase a particular type of product or service. By using local search data from Yelp, advertisers can target potential customers who are very likely to want to buy the product or service being advertised. One company that has already tested the local search data is a marketing agency called SpotCo. It reported that local search data helped it to double the amount of return on ad spend during its advertising campaign.Â
