It’s been quite a while since we last covered Yelp, but the local Web darling made an announcement last month that may just bring it back to our collective attention.

Yelp, which already offers a deals solution, introduced a new advertising/marketing product for small businesses that won’t be wholly unfamiliar – gift certificates.

Those businesses with a Yelp profile are now able to sell gift certifications direct to consumers through their profile page. Unlike its Deals product where items are discounted, gift certificates from Yelp are full-value cash equivalents – e.g. buy something for $50 and it’s worth $50.

The daily deal trend really through a lot of businesses (and users) into a tizzy. During testing of the gift certification option, Yelp found that while deals are a good way to present a new customer a reason to try your business, gift certificates were helpful for turning existing customers into advocates.