Voucher search engine Bview has launched its Geocast  voucher-based local mobile and web advertising solution. Using the Geocast website, the company says, advertisers can create an ad that will be seen locally by potential customers across dozens of websites and mobile applications, in less than five minutes.

Advertiser create their ad copy and voucher offering, include photos or barcodes, target the ad by entering the locations they wish to hit, and distribute it with a click of a button to online and mobile networks with access to over 30m potential customers. Payment to Geocast is based on clickthroughs.

Restaurant chain s&m cafes has been working with Geocast to increase footfall to its five London restaurants.  Judy Elvey from s&m cafes says: “A voucher delivery service like Geocast which recognises where (customers) are and then serves up a relevant offer is clearly a more elegant way to appeal to our diners. We track the impact of this form of promotion, and it currently accounts for 11 per cent of our business.”

Another Geocast customer, Sally Selves, from mobile tyre service IDS says: “The use of Geocast has been pivotal in helping us to grow our business and accounts for between 10 – 15 per cent of our turnover. Geocast gives us access to a vast market which we could never afford to cover with conventional advertising, and vitally, we only pay on results.”

Geocast has over 10,000 advertisers in the UK, ranging from small businesses to thousand-chain restaurants, all sharing the same goal of generating footfall. Publisher partners include Ask Jeeves, Touch Local, DMGT and mobile platforms such as Layar.     
“We believe mobile advertising will overtake internet advertising within 5 years,” says Geocast CEO Brad Liebmann. “This will be driven by early adopters who realise the benefits of location based advertising as a quantifiable marketing tool. It is these smart businesses who will drive the success of mobile advertising to a place we never thought possible.”