Cookies, probes, a loose radius
A display ad that might have been served somewhere else. A loose location. Phones that only detected a network, counted as if someone had looked.
Place-based advertising · Captive portal · Vacant units
Ads that only count people who are actually there.
- 400+ UK sites
- 500+ local businesses promoted
- Live in under a week
Why the count is different
Not another banner on the open web
Open-web ads argue about cookies, bots and a rough map pin. We sell a smaller thing: someone near an empty shop joins the guest Wi‑Fi and opens the login page. The signal covers the pavement as well as the unit.
This street, this Wi‑Fi, this login page
They join the guest network for that unit, including from outside, and open the portal. Opening it is the session. Detecting the network is not.
- 01 People who opened the login page Not phones that only detected the Wi‑Fi.
- 02 On that street, including outside The signal only reaches around the unit.
- 03 We filter what is not a person We do not promise zero bots.
- 04 Each site, and the network The report says which is which.
- 05 Guest Wi‑Fi stops at the portal You do not get online until you open it.
The login page is the gate
On the guest network you cannot get online until you open the portal. That open is what we count. It is not a phone probe, and it is not a banner you never asked to see.
The place is the product
The Wi‑Fi only reaches the street around that empty unit. If someone connects, they are there. We are not guessing from a phone’s location.
There are only so many of these
The inventory is the empty units we actually run, and the people who walk past them. It does not grow the way open-web ad space does. The report is people who were in range and chose to connect, not a cookie that might have been in EC3.
We set the network up so non-human traffic is the exception, and we filter what we can. We do not claim there are never bots, and we do not pretend everyone who walks past is a viewer. The number in the report is people who opened the portal.
Connect
Free public WiFi in the unit from a 4G/5G router that picks the strongest network on the street. Contractors, agents and viewings are online the moment they walk in, with no broadband contract for the owner. WiFi services →
Advertise
Printed posters in empty shop windows, and the same businesses on the Wi‑Fi login page. Independents apply free. Brands book a street or the network. The report shows portal sessions, page views and clicks, and it labels each site separately from the network total. Window advertising →
Protect
Remote monitoring of the equipment and the unit, an owner dashboard, and optional cameras and environmental sensors so an empty building is never an unwatched one. Monitoring →
Who it's for
One install. Four ways in.
The same WiFi and advertising service runs in the unit. The way in depends on whether you own it, want the window, or need WiFi somewhere else.
A void that is connected, watched and working.
We put a live WiFi and advertising service into the empty unit, keep it running, and give you a dashboard to see it. The unit stays lettable, viewings have WiFi on arrival, and holding costs come down.
- Connectivity in the unit without a broadband bill
- Optional cameras and environmental sensors
- Live in under a week, removed within days when you let it
Free advertising in the window and on the WiFi.
Empty shopfronts are media space. A printed display on the glass, plus your business on the portal everyone sees when they join the free public WiFi. Designed and installed by us. Free for independents.
- £0 for independent local businesses
- Window + WiFi portal every visitor sees
- Designed by us, installed within days
Paid campaigns on the street, or across the network.
Buy it the way you buy outdoor: a street, a town, or every live VacatAd site. Window, portal, or both. The report comes from the routers: people who opened the login page, page views and clicks, from anyone in range of that unit, including outside. Site totals and network totals are labelled separately. The Wi‑Fi name people see in their settings can be your brand.
- Local or network campaigns, plus branded WiFi names
- Report of portal sessions, page views and clicks, with site and network totals labelled separately
- Monthly terms, quote up front
WiFi wherever you need it, for as long as you need it.
The same routers we run in empty units work for pop-ups, events, site cabins and short lets. Plain WiFi, or a branded captive portal with your logo, a sign-up form or a survey. Delivered, set up and collected by us.
- 4G/5G routers, live the day they arrive
- Branded or unbranded captive portal, your choice
- Days or months, no long contract
Not sure which one you are? Tell us what you are trying to do and we'll point you at the right person.
An empty unit should do more than sit there.
An empty unit is dead frontage, a dark window and a space nobody is watching. We started VacatAd to change that with technology rather than paperwork: a router in the unit, a real service on it, and a local business in the window from day one.
- Local first: independent businesses on the street get the window and the portal for free
- Useful WiFi: free public access for anyone in range of the unit, including people on the pavement, on the strongest network at that address
- Transparent: clear pricing, live status, and records of what ran and when, kept for the owner
- Scale: 400+ UK sites, typically live in under a week
How a view is made
From empty frontage to place-based views
We check the site and install the kit. People nearby join the guest Wi‑Fi and open the login page. You get a report that labels each site separately from the network.
-
01
Footfall in the vicinity
People on the pavement, viewings and contractors. The guest Wi‑Fi reaches outside the unit. That street is the area we mean, not the whole city.
-
02
They join the guest Wi‑Fi
They pick the guest network. Joining the Wi‑Fi is not yet a session. On these networks they have to open the portal next.
-
03
They hit the portal
The login page appears before the internet does. Opening it is the session, and it is where the ad sits. A probe never gets this far.
-
04
Portal session counted
A portal session and portal page view, stamped to that router at portal time. Site metrics labelled as site; network totals labelled as network. Not an open-web impression.
What we do on the unit
Put the unit to work
Power, access, a signal check. We fit the router, guest Wi‑Fi, login page and window poster, usually within a week.
People in the vicinity join
Passers-by, viewings, contractors and neighbours join. The signal covers the pavement outside that unit. It is not a city-wide network.
The portal is the ad
The login page is the ad. They see it before they get online, and it is tied to that address.
Window + network
Printed display on the glass for the street; portal placement for everyone who joins. Independents free; brands book a street, town or the network.
Report what happened
Portal sessions, portal page views and clicks from the routers. Site totals labelled as site; network-wide totals labelled as network-wide.
Hand back when it lets
Kit and creative out within days, or leave plain Wi‑Fi for the new tenant.
Property firms we work with
The kit in the unit
Plug-and-play kit that goes in without works and comes out without a trace, all managed from our router console.
4G/5G router that locks on to the strongest network at the address
Enterprise WiFi coverage up to 10,000 sq ft per device
Optional 2K HDR security cameras on a private, password-protected network
Owner dashboard with uptime, usage and offline alerts
Optional moisture and temperature sensors for unheated or at-risk units
24/7 remote monitoring and proactive support
A vacant unit that is actually doing something
We check the site and install. People near the unit join the guest Wi‑Fi and open the login page. When you let the unit, we take the kit out. Owners get a building that is looked after. Local businesses take the window.
Where we are today.
400+
UK sites
Nationwide coverage
500+
Local businesses
Promoted in the window and on the portal
<1
Week to live
From first call to install
24/7
Monitoring
Every router, every site
Latest from the blog
Plain English on empty commercial property, the high street, and what a working unit looks like.
The Vacant Properties Bill: Could Councils Force Open Your Empty Units?
A new Private Members' Bill proposes giving local authorities the power to place charities and small businesses in vacant commercial properties - potentially rent-free and without landlord consent. We analyse the Vacant Commercial Properties (Temporary Use) Bill and what it means for property owners.
Read the piece →
From Empty Units to Community Hubs: The Social Value of VacatAd
An empty shop is a cost, and it is also a dark window on a street that still has customers. VacatAd puts free Wi-Fi and a local advert in that unit so the frontage is doing something while it waits.
Read the piece →
Vacant and Vulnerable: Securing Empty Commercial Properties in a Post-Pandemic World
Empty commercial units still attract unauthorised occupation, theft, vandalism, fire and environmental damage. How live WiFi, a working window and remote monitoring keep a void watched, instead of sitting dark until the next tenant.
Read the piece →Tell us about the property - we'll do the rest.
Fifteen minutes is enough. Whether it is an empty unit, a window you want to be in, or somewhere that needs WiFi next week, we'll tell you plainly what we can do and what it costs.
Prefer a 30-minute call? Book a meeting →