Index 
 
1. Google Nearby: The journey so far and the demise 

2. The relevance of proximity marketing in 2019 and beyond 

3. App requirement for beacon campaigns 

4. NearBee - your proximity marketing app 

5. NearBee SDK - for businesses who have an app 

6. Best options based on the size of the business 

a. Large and medium businesses 

b. Small businesses 

c. Proximity marketing solution providers 

7. Why will consumers download NearBee app? 

8. How to promote NearBee to consumers? 

9. The transition from Nearby to NearBee 

10. FAQs related to NearBee and nearby discontinuation

 
 

 
 
  

 
Google Nearby: The journey so far and the demise 
 
On June 9, 2016, Google announced a new feature called ‘Nearby’ on all Android devices 
that was intended to lead the end-user to open or download an app and know more about 
things around them. The idea was to serve the end-user with hyperlocal and contextual 
apps and information. 
 

What went wrong? 

Google Nearby started to become a constant source of annoyance leading several users to 
turn the service off. Hack-it together marketers and MLMs began to see this as an 
opportunity to just send out messages rather than laying emphasis on the end user’s 
experience. Initially, when users did not know what it was, it may have worked. But as the 
users grew aware of Nearby and grew tired of the constant spamming, they began to turn 
the service off and ultimately ignore all such notifications. 
 

The final announcement 

On October 25th, 2018, ​Google announced​ that Android will discontinue support for Nearby 
Notifications from December 6th, 2018, citing misuse of the service resulting in irrelevant 
and spammy marketing messages being delivered as notifications on Android phones.  
 
What does the end of Google Nearby mean? Does this mean proximity marketing is over?   
 

 
 
 

 
  
Proximity marketing is as relevant as ever 
 
Physical stores continue to exist and ad relevance is crucial especially because of how 
important customer delight is over mere customer satisfaction. 7
​ 1% of respondents​ said 
they would prefer ads that are tailored to their personalized interests and relevant to where 
they are. 
 
Proximity marketing has always been and continues to strive to be relevant to the end-user. 
Spinning signs and handing out flyers for businesses nearby is still a popular way of 
marketing, but with the rise of smartphones, marketers found a direct path to the consumer. 
For almost the last decade, beacon marketing through Nearby has been an important 
channel. 
 
The idea of Nearby was excellent but the implementation was far from perfect. We have to 
realize that Nearby being shut down will ultimately benefit both the customer and 
businesses that were trying to use it. There is no doubt that the proximity marketing with 
beacons is changing but it is changing for the better. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
An app is REQUIRED to send beacon notifications 
 
With the dismissal of Google Nearby, we need apps to broadcast beacon campaigns. This 
could be your existing brand app or a third party app designed to receive beacon signals. 

There are two viable alternatives for sending beacon notifications - 

1. If you do not have an existing business app - Leverage the power of NearBee. 
Beaconstac built a beacon-aware app - NearBee that scans for Physical Web notifications 
and displays on the user’s smartphone (iOS and Android).  
 
This app avoids the need & cost of creating your own app! It is hardware agnostic, which 
means it scans and displays beacon notifications from all beacon vendors.  
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2. If you have your business app or are looking to build an app 
i. Use the Eddystone protocol 
You can create an app from scratch with a developer’s help using the Eddystone 
protocol and subsequently run your proximity marketing campaigns. 
 
ii. Integrate NearBee SDK 
If you already have an existing app, you can transform it into a beacon-enabled app 
by simpling integrating the NearBee SDK in just a few lines of code.  
 

An app has always been the most recommended way of sending 

beacon notifications  
Apps for running proximity marketing campaigns has always been a great idea. This lets the 
end-user choose to download the app signalling their acceptance to receive marketing 
campaigns. 
 

 
 
 
The whole point of marketing and proximity marketing is to ensure that the end-user finds it 
relevant. With Nearby’s service, it became all too easy to forget the user experience. Since 
Nearby was turned on by default in all Android phones, the user had no choice but to be 
bombarded by messages irrespective of their relevancy. With an app in the picture, 
consumers choose to receive marketing content. 2
​ in 5 consumers​ like to receive targeted 
ads and location plays a huge role in relevance. Whether they choose to download a brand 
app or NearBee to get notified of all the businesses in the vicinity, their experience is bound 
to be more tailored and rich. 7
​ 0% of millennials​ try out new apps every month.​ 7
​ 5% of 
customers​ scour their inboxes looking for a good deal. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

 
NearBee - Discover what’s buzzing around you. 
 
NearBee scans for all beacons in an area 
and displays notifications on the Android 
smartphone. This allows the end-user to 
download one app instead of 20 or 30 
apps that would show them beacon 
notifications. 
 
NearBee is ​hardware agnostic​, which 
means even if you don’t have beacons 
from Beaconstac, you can still use our app 
to detect and display beacons. 
 
 

How does NearBee work and what can you do with it? 
NearBee scans for Physical Web beacons and displays those notifications on smartphones. 
It works exactly like Google Nearby, but with richer and more enhanced capabilities. 
 

How is NearBee superior to Google Nearby? 

NearBee is a far superior and better alternative to Google Nearby. It will only continue to 
outshine Nearby because the truth is with an app you can do a lot more than just send 
customers to a URL. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. NearBee delivers notifications 
straight to the lock screen 
The problem with Google Nearby was that 
notifications did not appear on the lock 
screen if a user had dismissed them or if a lot 
of users had not found a particular 
notification useful. The algorithm behind 
which Nearby Notification was promoted 
was never clear to anyone. With NearBee, 
every notification makes it to the lock screen. 
 
 
2. NearBee delivers non-silent notifications 
Another issue that a lot of proximity marketers 
faced was the fact that Nearby Notifications did 
not alert the user in any way. There was no 
vibration, no alert, nothing that would cause the 
user to look down and check their phones. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. NearBee does not deliver duplicate notifications 
The main reason Android users were put off by Nearby Notifications was that most 
advertisers set the advertising interval to the minimum causing a consumer who was 
in the same location for a while to receive the same notification over and over again. 
NearBee does not do that. It waits until a user re-enters a location to send them 
notifications which makes the user’s experience less annoying. 
 
 
 
4. NearBee delivers extremely rich 
notifications 
Another issue with Google Nearby was 
that it merely showed a Title and 
Description on the smartphone which did 
not indicate to users in many cases what 
the notification was for. With NearBee, 
users will be able to see the entirety of the 
campaign. Aesthetically pleasing visuals, 
eye-catching logo, and a powerful CTA all 
delivered to the user. 
 
 
 
5. NearBee has better click-through rates 
Something that a lot of marketers ignored is the fact Nearby Notifications were not 
able to guarantee them a high CTR. Possible reasons for this include the fact that the 
notifications did not alert the user, and were often irrelevant or spammy. NearBee 
was initially released on iOS and has seen a CTR of 10% at the very least. Our 
Android app has seen a tremendous increase in downloads and since it is 
hardware-independent, it is a truly viable option for marketers out there who have 
beacons deployed but no way to reach their customers anymore. 

 
  
 
 
5. Retarget your customers online on 
Facebook and Google with NearBee 
Once a customer visits the store, they can be 
easily retargeted online on Facebook and Google. 
The CTR of a retargeted ad is 10x higher than that 
of a display ad. All that is required is the Facebook 
Pixel ID and the Google Conversion ID. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The future of NearBee 

Future updates of NearBee will include a plethora of robust features including the ones 
below. 
 
1. No more generic notifications like Nearby: 
NearBee’s UI will morph to adopt the business’s 
unique branding 
A future update of NearBee will ensure that when a 
customer walks into say Starbucks, the app icon, app 
colors and the in-app logo will completely change to 
reflect Starbucks’s unique branding. This essentially 
means that businesses that do not have an app or do not 
want to build one can still use NearBee to give their 
customers a unique and consistent shopping experience. 
 
 
 
 
 
2. NearBee will engage frequent visitors with 
promotions & loyalty awards unlike Nearby 
Nearby treated all customers the same. With 
NearBee, businesses can foster a relationship with 
their customers pushing relevant promotions and 
loyalty awards to their frequent visitors. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Notifications will no longer 
disappear with NearBee: Send updates 
to customers even when they’re out of 
the beacon’s range 
A major issue that retailers and businesses 
had with Nearby was that beacon 
notifications disappeared as soon as a 
customer was out of the range. With 
NearBee, we aim to solve this issue by 
allowing customers to ‘follow’ businesses 
and receive timely updates. Consumers 
follow brands and like receiving 
notifications about new products or 
promotions 
 
 
 
 
  
 
4. Cashierless stores and online shopping with NearBee: Allow customers 
to shop online on Shopify and Square 
If businesses also have an online store on Shopify or Square, their customers will be 
able to shop online within the store avoiding lengthy checkout lines or order products 
from the comfort of their home and get free store pick-up or home delivery. 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
NearBee SDK  
Run proximity marketing campaigns on your business/brand apps 
 
For brands that already have an app, we provide NearBee SDK – a single line of code – 
which gives the flexibility to incorporate all or required features of NearBee. 
 
Brand apps and NearBee SDK unlocks a host of exciting opportunities. Here’s a list of 
marketing campaigns you can run once you integrate your app with NearBee SDK -  
 
Loyalty Programs​:​ Sephora has a great loyalty program for its customers that they 
run using beacon technology. The app lets customers see how many loyalty points 
they have and prompts them to redeem those at the counter. Brands can set up 
similar loyalty programs for their frequent customers using beacons which is 
excellent considering 53% of consumers prefer digital coupons. 
 
Personalized Recommendations​:​ With an app, a customer’s past purchase 
history can be leveraged to offer targeted and personalized products. Once they 
enter the store, beacons can notify them of a list of curated products just for them. 
According to a recent report from Accenture, 75% of consumers buy from retailers 
that recognize them by name and know their purchase history and build 
personalized offers based on that. 
 
Scavenger Hunts​:​ Several malls and brands have designed beacon scavenger 
hunts to engage more consumers and young children at the store to create a truly 
unique shopping experience. (​How to design your own beacon scavenger hunt​) 
 
Product Information​:​ 53% of millennials who shop at a store feel that the store 
associates do not possess the tools needed to deliver great customer service. This 
 may be as small an issue as not knowing where a certain product is located or its 
availability and how it fares to other similar products. Beacon powered apps can  
 
 
 
easily let millennials compare two products and list all of the product features turning 
their smartphone into a second screen. 
 
Customer Feedback​:​ Amazon’s 4-star store uses customer reviews and feedback 
to drive inventory in their store and the same can be implemented using beacons. By 
asking for customer feedback and allowing them to vote for certain products using 
an interactive form, brands can instil loyalty in new and frequent customers. 
 
Promote related app downloads​:​ Brands that have a multitude of apps or want 
to launch a new app can use beacon notifications to do so. A universal link to the app 
can be sent to customers who can then download the app on the respective play 
store. 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Viable options based on the size of your business 
 
Medium to large businesses -​ ​who want to invest in an app 
 
For medium to large businesses, it 
is extremely beneficial to have an 
app because they can collect 
information about a particular 
customer’s visits and purchase 
history which can be used to make 
the campaigns extremely 
personalized and targeted. Without 
an app, every customer is treated 
as a first-time visitor and leaves no 
scope for loyalty programs. The 
NearBee SDK is a single line of 
code that when inserted into the app will enable it to scan for BLE beacons. This works if 
you have an existing app as well. 

 
Small businesses or proximity marketing solution providers​ - s
​ erving a 

specific geographical region. 

Small businesses do not want to invest in an app. In this case, it would be wise to promote 
NearBee so as to benefit all the small businesses in the area. Customers can be encouraged 
to download the app at the checkout counter to get extra discounts, by scanning a QR code 
or incentivizing the download in several other ways. We will go into more detail about these 
how to promote NearBee, later in the e-book. The idea here is to remember that the entire 
shopping experience can be memorable for a customer and limiting beacon use-cases to 
just discounts or deals would be unwise. 
 
 
 
 

 
Why will consumers download the NearBee app? 
 
Consumers love discounts and relevant communication. That is the precise reason Groupon, 
a daily deals site, has 4
​ 9.3 million unique customers in 2018​. Proximity marketing is not 
even limited to just offering deals and discounts. Customers look forward to personalized 
recommendations and targeted advertising. Businesses can design unique beacon 
experiences, install talking mannequins, design a scavenger hunt, offer cashier-less 
experiences like Amazon Go and use customer feedback to drive inventory. The possibilities 
are endless. 
 
90% of the smartphone users have a
​ t least one subscription​ to a local deal/reward app. 
This statistics is self-explanatory of whether consumers will be willing to download a local 
app or not. Not just that, a survey conducted by P
​ ew Research​ suggests that an 
overwhelming 74% of adult smartphone users use an app to get information, directions, and 
deals based on their current location. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
How to promote NearBee for small businesses? 
 
Before getting to promoting the app, it’s important to understand who will download the 
app. Who is a local customer anyway who will require the app? This will help you carve a 
better strategy for driving app download. 
 

1. Understanding the local customer and co-promotion opportunity 

Practically every person walking into the store is a local customer in some way. Therefore, it 
is important for marketers like us to understand what defines the segment of consumers 
who need the app. Think of a local customer who needs an app as a person who will 
purchase from a business close to where they work or live, out of convenience or comfort. 
Generally, 10 km is used as a guideline. Retail stores, restaurants, trade services, and 
grocery stores are all examples of businesses a local customer will frequent. 
 

 
 
This essentially means that a co-app promotion strategy within 10kms range works well for 
local businesses. Let’s say there are 20 such stores, restaurants and salons in the radius of 
10kms. Even if each store manages to drive 5 app downloads per month, every store in the 
range wins 100 new buyer prospects. And, that’s terrific growth! 
 
 
 
 

2. Make NearBee (almost) necessary! 

One of the best ways to accelerate app download is to make the app a part of the customer 
journey. However, it’s extremely important to keep in mind that the app should prove to be 
valuable and enhance the experience. Let’s say you have posters at the billing counter that 
reads, “Download NearBee to skip the queue and pay online!”. Once the user downloads the 
app, the smartphone receives signals from a beacon nearby, that broadcasts a link to the 
payment gateway. This not only enhances the customer experience but also wins you a 
loyal customer.   
 

3. Promote it as a local pride – a local content source 

Local matters and people love to read and celebrate local pride. Use posters, stickers and 
signages at a lounge or waiting area near your business to promote NearBee as a source to 
receive a daily dose of local reading content when in the proximity of your business. 
Broadcast beacon campaigns to align with famous events, history, landmarks, sayings and 
nuances that are a part of your city’s identity. These are few examples of good local content: 
13 things keeping Austin weird 
How Boston’s “R”-less accent became so famous 
The best festivals to attend this summer in San Diego 

 
4. Host or partner with a local event 
Find out where your local community meets the most and host a fun event there. Go on to 
introduce NearBee and explain how it will be helpful for local buyers. The venue could be a 
local park, a local bar, a famous local restaurant, or just a busy corner down the street. If, for 
example, you decide to host or partner with an event at a local bar, announce NearBee and 
add a little extra incentive (if required) – like a free drink for everyone who downloads the 
app at the event. This could be a cool trigger for your new users to talk about NearBee and 
share it with their friends! 
 

5. Promote aggressively to your loyal customers 

Honestly, NearBee is extremely helpful for repeat customers – you know it. Inform your loyal 
customers about the app benefits – loyalty programs, tailored purchase suggestions, free 
shipping facilities and more. Use email marketing or personal network to reach out to them. 
On a local scale, personal networking works best! 
 

6. Use social media to promote the app 

Social media is pretty much the easiest way to for app 
promotion. Your social media followers obviously find 
value in your business. It’s only natural to reach out to 
them with NearBee that enhances their experience with 
your brand. Don’t spam their feed, rather educate them 
about what you offer via NearBee – location-based offers, 
online payment links, surveys, pre-order alerts and more.   
 
 
 
 

7. In-store advertising with QR codes 

Treat NearBee like a new product in your store! Use QR 
codes to drive buyers to the App Store/ Play Store. You 
can print QR codes on posters, flyers, business cards, 
takeaway bags, bills and other print material. You could 
also go creative with distributing postcards with local 
specific information and a NearBee QR code behind. You 
can also negotiate with other local businesses in your 
area so that you can leave some postcards in their 
establishment. This will be fun and helpful for your local 
buyers. 
 

8. Email marketing 
With thousands of emails going out every month as newsletters or personal communication, 
it totally makes sense to include information about NearBee in your signature. You could 
also reach out to your customers to introduce NearBee and offer incentives for downloading 
within a certain timeframe. 
 
 

 
The transition from Nearby to NearBee 
(For non-Beaconstac customers) 
 
NearBee has been designed to be hardware agnostic. That means even if you have not 
purchased beacons from Beaconstac, you can still start leveraging NearBee to run your 
proximity marketing campaigns. 
 

Configuring your beacons so that NearBee can detect them 

Check the configuration of your beacons and ensure that the following requirements are 
met: 
1. Beacons must transmit the Eddystone UID frames. 
2. Beacons must transmit the Eddystone URL. 
3. The Eddystone URL must be in HTTPS format. 
 
If you are still having an issue with getting NearBee to detect your beacons, send us a bug 
report. 
 

Changing the attachment format so NearBee can start displaying 

background notifications 
If you have already registered your beacons with the Google Proximity Beacon API, all you 
need to do is clone the Nearby attachment and add it to the Beaconstac namespace. 
 
Use the N
​ earby JSON attachment format​ to add attachments (campaigns) to all your 
beacons. Instead of com.google.nearby/en use the namespacedType beaconstac-1043/en 
(‘en is a 2 letter ​language code​ specified after the slash) 
 
Please read this ​detailed guide​ on how to register attachments. Once your attachments 
are registered, NearBee will automatically start detecting them and start displaying 
notifications in the background. 
 
 
  
Some FAQs about Google Nearby discontinuation and NearBee 
 
Will all Android users stop receiving messages or only the new ones? 
All Android users – old and new – will stop receiving Nearby Notifications on December 6, 
2018. 
 
Are my beacons useless? 
Absolutely not. Beacons can be used to run proximity marketing campaigns either through 
NearBee or your own app. 
 
Can I still run proximity marketing campaigns with beacons? 
Yes. You can continue to use Beaconstac beacons with your own app or NearBee. 
 
How will a user interact with NearBee? 
Users will see rich notifications on their lock screen and upon clicking them, they will be 
taken to the URL attached to the notification. 
 
Can I do everything on NearBee that I could with Google Nearby? 
Yes. In fact, we will soon add more features to NearBee to make it much better than Google 
Nearby ever was. 
 
Is NearBee free for users? 
Yes. It is 100% free for the end-user.