Mapping Site Offers Local Ads Targeted By Street

Hopstop, a mapping site that offers subway and bus directions, Tuesday announced a new program that will allow advertisers to target consumers based on their specific streets of origin or destination.

"We're looking for a really local urban advertising experience," said Hopstop CEO Chinedu Echeruo. "Rather than the traditional geo-targeted ads, where people target the New York City metro area, with the information we have about the user's location or destination, we can target on a per-block basis."

Hopstop is active in New York City, and has beta programs for Washington, D.C. and Boston. The company will launch a service for San Francisco in the coming month. Similar to MapQuest and other mapping utilities, it allows users to enter a destination and an origin, and then provides them with routes. But, unlike most other mapping programs, Hopstop offers directions--subway and bus routes, including transfers--for people who travel via public transportation.

For the advertising initiative, Hopstop has partnered with Situation Marketing, a firm that represents theaters. Situation will serve ads for six Broadway productions, including Avenue Q and Chicago, to users traveling to the Times Square area. According to Echeruo, the ads can be targeted to any block by destination or origin--allowing advertisers to get at consumers where they live, literally. The Times Square-targeted ads will begin by the end of the week, he said.

Previously, Hopstop was monetized by city-targeted display ads; for example, ads for the New York Sports Club were displayed for all New York City queries.

Google last month released a public transit trip planning utility similar to Hopstop's, dubbed Google Transit Trip Planner, which is in beta testing in the Portland, Ore. metropolitan area. The search giant partnered with Portland's transit authority, Tri-Met, to produce the nascent product -- which does not as yet have ads.

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