Featured Listings vs Sponsored Listings vs Paid Ads: What’s the Difference?

LocalZ offers three promotional tools to help your business get discovered by more local customers: Featured Listings, Sponsored Listings, and Paid Ads. Each one increases your visibility in different ways. Used together, they form a powerful marketing strategy that helps you dominate local search and stand out from competitors.

Featured Listings boost your business to the top of organic search results in your selected category and location. These listings are visually marked with a “Featured” badge, making them more noticeable to customers who are browsing the directory.

Benefits:

• Top placement in organic listings

• Trusted appearance with a professional badge

• More visibility in category and map searches

• Great for consistent exposure over time

• Builds credibility and click-through rates

Ideal for businesses that want long-term, passive visibility without running constant campaigns.

Sponsored Listings are paid promotions that place your listing even above Featured and Standard listings in search results. These listings are labeled as “Sponsored” and give you more control over where and when your business appears.

Benefits:

• Highest position in directory search results

• Visibility in highly competitive categories or locations

• More profile views and engagement during active campaigns

• Ideal for targeting new service areas or boosting traffic during promotions

Ideal for businesses that want to increase visibility fast or promote time-sensitive services in key zones.

Paid Ads are custom banners or image ads that appear in prominent ad zones across the platform — including the homepage, category pages, city directories, and more. These ads can link to your listing, your website, or a promotional page.

Benefits:

• Maximum exposure across high-traffic areas of the site

• Brand visibility beyond just search results

• Drive targeted traffic to a listing, landing page, or offer

• Perfect for highlighting limited-time deals, events, or announcements

Ideal for businesses that want to increase brand awareness or launch targeted marketing campaigns.

You don’t have to choose just one. Businesses get the best results when they use all three promotional options in combination.

Example strategy:

• Use a Featured Listing for steady visibility and long-term brand trust

• Add Sponsored Listings to dominate search results in your top categories

• Run Paid Ads during busy seasons, sales, or to expand into new markets

Together, these tools give your business constant exposure in search, increased clicks, and better lead opportunities across the entire platform.

Plan your strategy based on your goals:

• Featured = long-term visibility

• Sponsored = fast attention in search

• Paid Ads = broad brand promotion and campaign power

All upgrades are managed in your Business Account. You can start, stop, or adjust campaigns anytime to match your business needs.