Yelp launches Local Co-branded Showcase Ads for national brands

Yelp announced Local Co-branded Showcase Ads on August 6, 2025, introducing an advertising solution that allows national brands to reach high-intent audiences by featuring relevant local businesses in search results. The new ad format represents the first opportunity for consumer packaged goods companies, financial services firms, and other location-less businesses to highlight their local business partners directly within Yelp's platform.

According to the announcement, Local Co-branded Showcase Ads build upon Yelp's existing Sponsored Collections framework. The advertising unit positions brand partnerships in highly visible, contextually relevant placements throughout Yelp search results. National advertisers can now create photo or video advertisements that showcase their products alongside local business partners, appearing when users conduct relevant searches on the platform.

The timing of this launch reflects broader industry trends toward privacy-compliant advertising solutions. Recent data from programmatic advertising shows 72% of marketers plan to increase programmatic investments in 2025, with contextual targeting emerging as the primary solution for 41% of marketers as traditional tracking capabilities decline.

Two major brands participated in pilot programs before the wider launch. Pepsi collaborated with Yelp to deliver Local Eats messaging to consumers searching for nearby restaurants. The campaign featured real-time, customized advertisements co-branded with relevant local restaurant partners that appeared within user search results.

"We're excited to partner with Yelp on the Local Co-branded Showcase Ads campaign and to work alongside our valued local business partners," said André Moraes, Head of PepsiCo's Away From Home Digital Lab. "At Pepsi, building strong community connections is core to our mission, and this co-branded approach has made it easier to spotlight local restaurants proudly serving Pepsi."

The Pepsi pilot demonstrated measurable results halfway through the campaign period. According to Moraes, the initiative achieved a more than 25% reduction in cost per lead for restaurant partners and generated increased restaurant visits. These performance metrics underscore the potential impact of reaching consumers during their decision-making moments.

Bilt represented another early adopter of the Local Co-branded Showcase Ads format. The financial services company utilized the advertising unit to highlight partner restaurants where Bilt Members access exclusive benefits. During the initial two months of testing, the campaign facilitated consumer discovery of over 700 New York City-based Bilt partner restaurants.

The Bilt pilot generated over 300,000 measured location visits during its testing period. Local restaurants included in the program experienced an average 5.5% increase in page views on their respective Yelp business pages. These statistics demonstrate the dual value proposition for both national brands and local business partners.

"Yelp's Local Co-Branded Showcase Ads allowed us to highlight partner restaurants offering exclusive Neighborhood Benefits at the moment diners are choosing their next spot," said Nicole Treiman, SVP, Product & Growth Marketing at Bilt. "By driving awareness to our exclusive benefits directly on Yelp's restaurant pages, we were able to create meaningful increases in both spend and transaction volume at our partner locations during the test period."

The advertising format addresses a longstanding challenge for national brands seeking authentic local connections. Companies without physical retail presence previously lacked effective mechanisms to highlight their relationships with local business partners at scale. Local Co-branded Showcase Ads provide a solution by leveraging Yelp's established user base and local business network.

Yelp's platform connects consumers with local businesses through reviews and business information. The company's recent financial performance showed record revenue of $1.41 billion in 2024, with services categories driving 15 consecutive quarters of double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. Advertising revenue from services businesses reached $879 million, representing an 11% year-over-year increase.

The Local Co-branded Showcase Ads launch comes amid Yelp's broader product transformation. Throughout 2024, the platform introduced over 80 new features, with particular emphasis on artificial intelligence integration across various platform functions. The company has consistently expanded its advertising capabilities, previously launching Request a Quote for Brands in July 2024 for national and multi-location service businesses.

The advertising industry continues to evolve as platforms develop new solutions for brand-local business partnerships. Google's dominance in local search advertising has prompted competitors like Yelp to innovate alternative approaches. Yelp's recent legal action against Google alleges monopolistic practices in local search markets, claiming Google's control over search results limits competition and consumer choice.

Local Co-branded Showcase Ads operate through contextual relevance rather than traditional user tracking. When users search for specific business types or services, the advertisements appear organically within results, featuring both the national brand and relevant local partners. This approach aligns with industry shifts toward privacy-compliant advertising methods as identifier coverage continues to decline across mobile and desktop environments.

The technical implementation builds upon Yelp's existing advertising infrastructure. Sponsored Collections previously allowed businesses to feature their services in prominent positions within search results. Local Co-branded Showcase Ads extend this capability by enabling partnerships between national brands and local businesses, creating co-branded promotional content that appears contextually within user searches.

For local businesses, participation in Local Co-branded Showcase Ads requires no direct financial investment. According to Yelp's announcement, local business partners receive increased visibility on the platform at no cost to them. This arrangement differs from traditional advertising models where both parties typically share promotional expenses.

The advertising format supports both photo and video creative assets. National brands can develop visual content that showcases their products within local business environments. A neighborhood sushi restaurant might feature Bilt Member benefits, while an independent burger spot could highlight Pepsi beverage availability through co-branded promotional materials.

Measurement capabilities provide advertisers with performance data including location visits, page views, and lead generation metrics. These analytics enable national brands to assess the effectiveness of their local partnership investments and optimize future campaigns based on consumer response patterns.

The expansion represents Yelp's strategy to capture advertising revenue from national brands while maintaining its focus on local business support. By creating value for both national advertisers and local partners simultaneously, the platform positions itself as an intermediary that facilitates mutually beneficial business relationships.

Industry observers note the potential for similar partnership-focused advertising formats to emerge across other local business platforms. As national brands seek authentic community connections and local businesses require increased visibility, co-branded advertising solutions may become more prevalent across digital marketing channels.

The Local Co-branded Showcase Ads launch follows Yelp's broader effort to enhance its advertising offerings for larger businesses. Previous initiatives included extending the Yelp Guaranteed program to national service businesses and expanding Verified License and Portfolio features to larger companies seeking to build consumer trust.

For marketing professionals, Local Co-branded Showcase Ads represent a new channel for national brand activation at the local level. The format enables geographic targeting and local relevance while maintaining brand consistency across multiple markets and partnerships.

The success of Local Co-branded Showcase Ads will likely depend on adoption rates among national brands and the quality of local business partnerships. As pilot results from Pepsi and Bilt demonstrate positive performance metrics, other national advertisers may evaluate similar partnership-based advertising strategies.

According to Yelp, the goal of expanding Local Co-branded Showcase Ads is to foster authentic connections between brands, local businesses, and the communities they serve. The platform plans to grow the program by attracting additional national advertisers and expanding local business participation across various categories and geographic markets.

Timeline

• 2021: Yelp launches Yelp Audiences for off-platform advertising using search audiences
• 2022: Yelp introduces Ad Goals, Audience Size Estimator, and Keyword Targeting for enhanced advertiser transparency
• July 2024: Yelp unveils Request a Quote for Brands and expands offerings for national advertisers
• August 2024: Yelp sues Google alleging monopoly abuse in local search market
• December 2024: Yelp enhances platform with AI-powered review analysis and discovery tools
• February 2025: Yelp reports record revenue of $1.41 billion in 2024
• August 6, 2025: Yelp announces Local Co-branded Showcase Ads

Key Terms Explained

Local Co-branded Showcase Ads: The new advertising format represents Yelp's solution for national brands to feature local business partners within search results. This ad unit combines brand messaging with local business visibility, creating co-branded promotional content that appears contextually when users search for relevant services. The format builds upon Yelp's existing Sponsored Collections framework while introducing partnership capabilities between national advertisers and local establishments.

Sponsored Collections: This existing Yelp advertising infrastructure serves as the foundation for Local Co-branded Showcase Ads. Sponsored Collections allow businesses to feature their services in prominent positions within search results, providing the technical framework that enables the new co-branded advertising capabilities. The system ensures contextual relevance by matching advertisements with user search intent and geographic location.

High-intent audiences: Yelp's user base demonstrates strong purchase intent, with the platform's research indicating 90% of visitors make purchases within one week of using the service. These audiences actively search for local businesses and services, making them valuable targets for both national brands and local establishments seeking customer acquisition through contextual advertising placement.

National brands: Companies without physical retail locations, including consumer packaged goods manufacturers and financial services firms, represent the primary target market for Local Co-branded Showcase Ads. These organizations traditionally faced challenges connecting with local communities at scale, making the new advertising format particularly valuable for establishing authentic local market presence through partnership-based marketing approaches.

Local business partners: Establishments that participate in co-branded advertising campaigns receive increased visibility on Yelp at no direct cost. These businesses benefit from association with national brands while gaining exposure to Yelp's user base through enhanced search result placement. The partnership model creates mutual value without requiring local businesses to invest in advertising expenses.

Contextual relevance: The advertising system displays co-branded content based on user search behavior and intent rather than traditional tracking methods. This approach aligns with privacy-compliant advertising trends as the industry moves away from identifier-based targeting toward contextual placement strategies that respect user privacy while maintaining advertising effectiveness.

Performance metrics: Measurement capabilities include location visits, page views, lead generation, and cost-per-lead tracking. The Pepsi pilot demonstrated over 25% reduction in cost per lead, while Bilt's campaign generated over 300,000 measured location visits and 5.5% average increase in Yelp page views for participating restaurants, providing quantifiable evidence of campaign effectiveness.

Pilot programs: Early testing phases with Pepsi and Bilt provided proof-of-concept validation before the wider product launch. These pilots demonstrated the advertising format's viability across different industry sectors, from beverage partnerships with restaurants to financial services benefits programs, establishing performance benchmarks for future campaigns.

Platform integration: Local Co-branded Showcase Ads operate within Yelp's existing ecosystem, leveraging the platform's established user base, local business network, and search functionality. Integration with business pages, review systems, and discovery features creates comprehensive advertising experiences that extend beyond simple promotional placement.

Privacy-compliant advertising: The advertising approach reflects industry-wide shifts toward solutions that function without extensive user tracking. As traditional identifier coverage declines across mobile and desktop environments, contextual advertising methods like Local Co-branded Showcase Ads provide alternatives that maintain effectiveness while respecting evolving privacy expectations and regulatory requirements.

Summary

Who: Yelp announced the new advertising solution, with Pepsi and Bilt as pilot program participants. André Moraes from PepsiCo's Away From Home Digital Lab and Nicole Treiman from Bilt provided statements about their experiences.

What: Local Co-branded Showcase Ads enable national brands without physical locations to showcase local business partners in Yelp search results through photo or video advertisements that appear contextually during user searches.

When: The announcement was made on August 6, 2025, following successful pilot programs with Pepsi and Bilt that demonstrated measurable performance improvements.

Where: The advertising format operates within Yelp's platform, appearing in search results when users look for relevant local businesses. Initial pilots focused on restaurant partnerships in markets including New York City.

Why: The solution addresses the challenge for national brands to build authentic local connections at scale while providing local businesses with increased visibility at no cost, leveraging Yelp's high-intent user base for mutual benefit.