Tags offer local businesses an opportunity to enhance their Google Maps listings with a note about special offers, coupons or photos. A yellow marker appears on the listing which when a user scrolls over or clicks on the associated sponsored link, they will see these offers or coupons.

Here is an example of how the tag appears:

Although the tags are labelled as "sponsored", Google has advised that they will not increase or decrease the ranking of your listing; it simply allows you business to stand out from the sea of red pins on a Google Map.

Once the 30-day trial period has finished, the Tags program costs a flat fee of $25 a month. If you are keen to take Google up on the offer, you better be quick, you only have 3 days to get started. There are more details on the offer here.