Yelp ads for business: how they work and what they cost

This guide is built from Yelp for Business pages: Yelp Ads, local business pricing, Upgrade Package and Yelp's Master Advertising Terms. Ads only help if your free listing is in good shape; our guides to Google Business Profile and Apple Business Connect and Bing Places cover the other directories that matter for local search.

What Yelp Ads are

Yelp describes Yelp Ads as "prime ad spots that help you advertise your business information, service offerings, and more to millions of customers searching on and off Yelp." The ad looks like a Yelp search listing: a photo, your business name and a short line of text, which can be your own copy or a snippet from one of your reviews.

Yelp Ads is the self-serve product for local businesses. Yelp also sells Showcase Ads, Yelp Audiences retargeting, Spotlight video ads and Shopping Ads, which it says are for "large businesses" with a dedicated account team.

Where Yelp ads show

Yelp's FAQ says your ad appears "in the "Sponsored Results" sections (which are above and below the organic search results) and on competitor pages." So when someone searches Yelp for "plumber" in your area, your ad can appear above the free results, and it can also appear on another plumber's Yelp page.

Yelp also syndicates ads beyond its own site. Its terms describe the Yelp Ad Network as "delivering Yelp Ads through syndication on third-party properties", and the Yelp Ads dashboard lets you filter results for ads shown off Yelp.

What Yelp ads cost

Yelp publishes starting points, not a rate card. On its pricing page (US):

• Yelp Business Page: free.
• Yelp Ads: "From $150/ month", which matches Yelp's line that you can "Spend as little as $5 a day on average."
• Upgrade Package: $180 a month; Yelp's FAQ gives the standard price as "$6 per day on average", with a 14-day free trial.
• Yelp Ads and Upgrade Package together: from $270 a month.

Yelp adds: "Minimum budgets subject to change." Above the minimum, the budget is yours to set; Yelp says "You can strategically adjust your budget to any maximum amount, when you want and as often as you want." At set-up, Yelp suggests a budget based on typical spend in your industry. Yelp doesn't publish an average cost per click; your dashboard shows yours once the ad runs.

How you are charged

Yelp Ads are cost per click. Yelp's terms describe the program as advertising "on a cost-per-click basis for ad impressions promoting Client's business up to a maximum specified budget." Three details matter:

• A "click" is broader than a click. In the terms it is any time a user acts on an ad, "such as by clicking or tapping on it, requesting information, quotes, services, reservations or appointments", as Yelp determines.
• Price comes from an auction. The price per click is set by "automated auction mechanics among eligible advertisers based on predicted click-through rates, price, relevance, competition, and other factors". Yelp's set-up guide notes your cost per click "may change over time based on demand".
• The monthly budget is a cap. Yelp says "Although your daily spend may vary, you'll never pay more than your monthly maximum." Spending the full budget isn't guaranteed: Yelp says it may not happen "based on your ad settings and available inventory."

Setting up an ad

Yelp's getting started guide lists seven steps in the Yelp Ads tab of your business account:

1. Goal: let Yelp optimize, or choose more calls or more website clicks.
2. Photo: pick one, or let Yelp test your gallery.
3. Text: write your own, feature a review, or let Yelp choose.
4. Keywords: review the keywords Yelp picked and boost the important ones.
5. Location: set how far from your business the ad shows.
6. Budget: accept Yelp's suggestion or set your own.
7. Billing: enter your card and accept the advertising terms.

Targeting by location and keyword

Yelp says you can "Target by location and keyword so that your ad is only shown to your most likely customers."

• Location: a radius around your business; Yelp notes "radius options vary per business category".
• Keywords: by default, Yelp shows your ad to people searching for what you offer, based on your business profile. You can boost keywords so Yelp shows the ad for them more often, and block keywords after purchase. Yelp recommends blocking only adjacent services you don't offer; its example is a plumber blocking "sink installation" while boosting "sink repair".

Yelp Ads vs the Upgrade Package

The two are often confused. Yelp's FAQ separates them: Yelp Ads puts your business "on primary placements on Yelp, such as above the search results and on your competitors' pages", while the Upgrade Package "lets you enhance and customize your Yelp Business Page and search listing". The package includes, depending on category:

• removing competitor ads from your page;
• a call to action button;
• your logo, a photo slideshow and business highlight badges;
• Yelp Connect posts and a project portfolio.

It is billed as a fixed monthly fee on the first of each month after the trial. Yelp Ads, by contrast, are pay per click against your budget.

Tracking leads

Yelp's guide to the Yelp Ads dashboard lists what you can see: impressions, ad clicks, spend this billing period with your average cost per click, a map of where the ad was shown, and customer leads. Yelp counts a lead when someone visits your page and then takes an action: "phone calls, website clicks, directions and map view, mobile check-ins, Yelp bookmarks, user uploaded photo(s) and/or messages." Leads are split into ads leads and organic leads. Call tracking is available "for select businesses."

Bookmarks and map views are not enquiries. For website clicks, tag the URL in your Yelp listing with UTM parameters so GA4 shows Yelp visits and what they did on your site.

Pausing and cancelling

For self-serve advertisers there is no contract. Yelp says "There are no term contracts with self-serve advertisers so you're never locked into running your Yelp Ads for a specific period of time." You can pause, change the budget or stop at any time. Under the terms, self-serve programs end when you select "End Campaign" or a similar option in your Yelp business account.

If you signed a purchase order with a Yelp sales rep instead, the terms differ: you cancel by email to Yelp's Customer Success team, following the process in your order; where the order has none, the terms ask for 30 days' written notice.

Get your Yelp page ready first

Most ad clicks land on your Yelp business page, so the page does the selling. Reviews matter most: see our guide to reviews and testimonials, and keep your name, address and phone the same everywhere, as our local business schema guide explains.

How we decide on Yelp ads

This is our own practice, not Yelp's guidance:

• We check how many people already find the client on Yelp (page visits in the free dashboard) before spending anything.
• We only recommend Yelp ads when the category is one people actually search on Yelp, such as home services and restaurants, and the page has recent reviews.
• We start at Yelp's minimum, watch the leads that count (calls, messages, quote requests) for two to three months, and compare the cost per lead with Google ads.

If you want help with local advertising or your listings, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

How much do Yelp ads cost?

Yelp's pricing page says Yelp Ads start from $150 a month, or as little as $5 a day on average. You set a monthly maximum, and Yelp charges per click up to that amount.

Does Yelp charge per click?

Yes. Yelp Ads are cost per click, priced by auction. Yelp's terms count actions such as requesting a quote as a click too.

Can I cancel Yelp ads at any time?

Self-serve ads, yes: there is no term contract. Ads bought through a purchase order follow the cancellation terms in that order.

What is the difference between Yelp Ads and Yelp Upgrades?

Yelp Ads buy placement in search results and on competitors' pages, pay per click. The Upgrade Package improves your own page, for example removing competitor ads, for a fixed monthly fee.

Where do Yelp ads appear?

In the Sponsored Results above and below Yelp search results, on competitors' Yelp pages, and through Yelp's ad network on some third-party sites.

For other local advertising, see our guides to Google Local Services Ads, Nextdoor ads and service area pages for local SEO.