Two businesses near each other, each already running their own screen, agree to trade airtime instead of paying for it: the gym's screen plays the diner's lunch special for a while, and the diner's screen plays the gym's new-member offer back. No invoice, no ad rep, no cash changing hands — cross promotion, arranged screen to screen inside the same account instead of over email or a handshake at a chamber-of-commerce mixer. This is the coming half of Local Screens. The half that's live today is the part you'd actually use to have a screen worth swapping in the first place: the player that runs on a TV, the drag-and-drop editor, POS-synced menu boards and per-screen QR offers, all in landscape today. The Local Swap Network builds on top of that once it opens — see the full live picture on Local Screens. You might already know this idea under other names — cooperative advertising (some call it co op advertising), partner marketing, a trade exchange, a plain barter exchange with an advertising partner down the street, or partnership advertising between two local screens. Whatever term you search for, cross promotion is the plain description we'll use throughout: two businesses trading airtime, not buying it.
Ads and Pixels / Local Swap NetworkComing
Cross promotion between nearby screens — the Local Swap Network, coming
Once it opens, a restaurant, a gym and a shop near each other will be able to trade screen time instead of paying for it — a play on your screen for a play on theirs, credited by estimated audience, not by how many times either side hits play. That's cross promotion, arranged automatically instead of negotiated by phone. The whole Local Swap Network is coming soon. Local Screens itself — the player, the drag-and-drop editor, menu boards and QR offers — is live today, on any TV, in landscape.
ComingLocal Swap Network
What the Local Swap Network will be
Fair by audience, not by play count
Cross promotion only holds up long-term if it's fair, and a simple swap network that credits one play for one play, no matter where or when either screen sits — and that's not actually fair once two real venues compare notes. A screen a few feet from a busy sidewalk window earns a different audience than one tucked in a back hallway, and a restaurant's register screen at lunch rush earns a different audience than that same register screen at 2pm. So credits in the Local Swap Network are earned and spent in estimated impressions, not raw plays — how many people the model estimates actually saw that specific play, on that screen, at that time. In our estimate model, one roadside play can be worth several plays on a restaurant's register screen, and a lunch-rush register play can be worth many plays on a quiet back-hallway screen mid-afternoon. Those are illustrations of how the model weighs audience, not a guarantee of what any specific swap will earn; every real swap shows its own numbers before either side approves it.
Every estimate shows its sources and a confidence badge
Cross promotion only holds up if both sides trust the number behind it. Before either side approves a swap, both will see the estimate behind it — not a single number presented like a fact, but what it's built from and a confidence badge (high, medium or low) telling you how solid it is. That's so a new screen with little history and an established one with months of proof-of-play data don't get judged the same way, and so nobody has to just take our word for what an audience is worth.
Who you could be matched with
You'll set a radius — anywhere from half a mile to ten miles — and so will the businesses around you; a match only happens inside both radii at once. Every suggested match will exclude competitors automatically: a shared category, either host's block list, or that venue's own content rules is enough to keep a pairing off the list entirely. This is cross promotion between businesses that send each other customers, not businesses fighting over the same ones.
Both sides have to say yes
Cross promotion only starts once both businesses approve the actual creative going on their screen — nobody's screen plays something they haven't seen. Either side can end a swap at any time, no notice period and no penalty; the credits already earned stay earned, and future plays just stop.
Credits aren't money
This kind of cross promotion doesn't run on money. Swap credits have no cash value. They can't be bought, sold or cashed out — they only exist to keep a trade of screen time roughly even over time. Swaps use their own slice of a screen's open loop and never touch the time set aside for paid ads or performance offers; trading with a neighbor won't shrink what you could otherwise earn or sell. If you'd rather turn open screen time into cash instead of a trade, that's a different door: paid outside advertisers on Advertise on local screens, or pay-per-conversion offers on Performance offers. Either way, what hosts will be able to earn is covered honestly on Earn from your screens.
The same proof of play, labelled swap
Cross promotion gets the same proof as anything else on the screen. Every swapped play is logged the same way a paid play is — timestamp, screen and duration — and any QR code on a swapped play is tracked the same way too, just labelled "swap" in your reporting so it never gets mixed up with a paid campaign or a performance offer. You'll always be able to see which plays you gave, which you received, and what each was worth.
We're finding out the right way to handle taxes, before this opens
Tax treatment for this kind of cross promotion isn't something we're going to guess at. Trading airtime instead of paying for it raises a real tax question, and we're not going to guess at the answer. We're reviewing how swap credits should be reported with an accountant, and we'll publish exactly how that works before the Local Swap Network opens to anyone — not after.
Frequently asked questions
Real answers before you make a decision.
Is cross promotion between screens live yet?
No. It's coming soon. Local Screens itself — the player, editor, menu boards and QR offers — is live today, in landscape, on any TV; the swap network builds on top of that once it opens.
What do I need before I can swap with another business?
A screen already running through Local Screens. You can't trade airtime you don't have — start with the live product first.
How is a swap credited, if not by number of plays?
By estimated audience, not play count. Credits will be earned and spent in estimated impressions, so a high-traffic play and a quiet one aren't treated as equal.
Why isn't one play worth one play?
Because two plays can reach very different audiences — a roadside screen at noon against a register screen at lunch, or a lunch rush against a quiet back hallway. The model weighs each play by its estimated audience, and every real swap shows its own rate before either side approves it.
How will I know an audience estimate is any good?
Every estimate will show what it's built from and a confidence badge, so you can judge it yourself instead of trusting a single number.
Who will I be matched with, and how do you keep competitors out?
Businesses inside a radius you and they each set, from half a mile to ten miles. Matches automatically exclude anyone sharing your category, on either side's block list, or against that venue's own rules.
What if I don't like the other business's ad, or want to stop swapping?
Nothing plays without your approval first, and either side can end a swap at any time — no notice period, no penalty. Credits already earned stay earned.
Can I cash out my credits, or use them for anything besides swaps?
No. Swap credits have no cash value and can't be bought, sold or cashed out — they exist only to keep a trade of screen time roughly even.
What about taxes on swap credits?
We're reviewing that with an accountant and will publish exactly how swaps should be reported before the network opens — no tax claims until that's settled.
Be ready for cross promotion the day it opens.
Add your first screen today on Local Screens — live now — and the Local Swap Network unlocks in the same account the moment it ships.