Leading location-sharing platform Foursquare has announced that it is extending its current advertising program to include small businesses, therefore providing them with the tremendous business opportunity to reach its 40+ million-strong user base in an unprecedented and measurable way. Finally, small business owners can be assured that they’re only paying for what they get.

“We’re opening Foursquare Ads to all small businesses around the world,” the company wrote it its blog on the day of the new release. “We’re moving past the days when business owners have to figure out if a ‘like’ or a ‘click’ has any meaning in the real world; now they can tell if someone who saw their ad actually walks into their store.”

All it takes is a quick visit to Foursquare’s ads dashboard to create an ad or some other promotion using its incredibly simple, straightforward and user-friendly interface. Businesses then pay based on how many people respond to the ad, and there’s no minimum upfront commitment. In fact, business owners set the bid and their own budget, all of which sets Foursquare’s program apart from competitors like Google and Facebook.

Having been piloted with a large number of bigger companies already, as well as hundreds of local businesses in the New York area since May, the Foursquare Ads program has thus far yielded very solid results. Not only are advertisers able to measure the actual foot traffic in their stores, but the estimated cost per action among those who are currently using the program is also encouraging. In fact, it’s averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 to $2, which is pretty affordable when you consider the potential return on investment can be at least five times that or more.

This latest Foursquare expansion comes on the heels of its announcement earlier this month that it is rolling out the following additional upgrades:

• Real-time recommendations—Upon arrival, customers can receive feedback on everything from the best thing to order to the day’s money-saving special.

• Right now—Foursquare’s new “Nearby” button will give customers information on where their friends are at a given time…a great option for anyone with an hour or two to kill.

• Friends at a glance—This cool feature shows each user’s friends’ most recent check-in information, and if they want to dig deeper and see more, all they need to do is tap through to their profile.

Something that hasn’t changed is that the minute Foursquare users open the app, they immediately receive great information on what’s of greatest interest around them, like a new restaurant or a fun event happening nearby. It’s the same great concept, only now “any merchant can monitor how many people have viewed their ad, how many have tapped it, and how many actually came into their store,” the company said. “Merchants know what they’re paying for—real actions and real customers.”

And that’s a business opportunity that any smart small business owner may not want to miss.

Click here for more information on how Foursquare Ads can help your local business now!