Sponsored locations in Pokèmon GO

Pokèmon GO is currently a worldwide hype and developer Niantic aims to take full advantage, by adding sponsored locations. Retailers hope they can get more visitors from the app.

Lure in customers

Stores could pay to get their location added to the game and they will have to pay for every visit they generate through the app. Currently, plenty of retailers have noticed that their presence in-game has lured in plenty of additional customers. A New York-based restaurant said its customers increased by 75 %, after it had spent 10 dollars on an in-app purchase that lures in more Pokémon to that specific location. Other companies are also trying to get more customers by indicating there are plenty of Pokémon in their vicinity. 

Niantic has done this type of advertising before: the developer is also responsible for Ingress, basically Pokémon GO’s predecessor. It also allows companies to pay for sponsored locations there.