Near Me: Happy users. Happy advertisers. Happy publishers.

What is Near Me?

A microapp is an incredibly useful, user-centric tool – a small application that’s published on a website or app to perform a specific function. Near Me’s purpose is to streamline the local search process in a new, more intuitive way – it’s a smart local search tool that can be easily integrated on any mobile site or app, where it serves as a ‘mini search engine' for nearby businesses.

This sleek microapp features clickable shortcuts, each representing a product/service category (like ‘Coffee’ or ‘Fuel’ for example) using globally recognisable icons.

When a site features Near Me, users are asked to share their location, allowing the tool to display nearby products/services, each with a distance reference published in real time. With a simple click on a Near Me icon, opted in users see a short list of local store listings. A click on a listing takes users to a landing page where they have further brand engagement options like navigate to store, call the store, share on social, and more.

Near Me isn’t only about finding stores though. It has a number of other location based functionalities, including the most innovative weather solution available on mobile web, plus nearby events, trending restaurants from Zomato and special offers, along with a host of new innovative features coming soon!

When a mobile site features Near Me:

• Users can stay on the site and find a local product/service, without ever having to open a new tab in their browser to access a search engine.
  
• Users will never have to type in their area to bring up local search results; that happens auto-magically.
  
• Users can click on category widgets without needing to type a word. We’ve covered all the top ‘near me search’ categories so most search requests are covered, from ATMs to Fashion and Fuel.
  
• Users get exclusive access to the most location relevant and accurate weather forecast available on any mobile site.
  
• Users can quickly find new local businesses to support.

More good news for publishers

The point of a microapp is to make a user’s life easier, but publishers access additional benefits by default.

The seven local publishers we’ve integrated with – www.lockdownbozza.co.za, www.careersportal.co.za, www.slikouronlife.co.za, www.thejobsportal.co.za, www.bursariesportal.co.za, www.newsportal.co.za and www.skillsportal.co.za – have already experienced these benefits first hand.

With the new functionality that Near Me offers, users have more incentive to share their location with the publisher, and will stay on the publisher’s site for longer. End result – intent based targeting coupled with true location that increases a publisher’s ad revenue. If a user repeatedly clicks on the ‘Coffee’ icon, for example, we can make some fairly accurate assumptions about what sort of ads they’d be more interested in.

Increased, accurate location data gives publishers a unique understanding of their users and the ability to serve more relevant advertising to them. Happy users, happy advertisers, happy publishers.