An advertising framework for transmitting advertisements from wireless access points to client devices that need not be connected to the wireless access point. The client device can display the advertisements on a user interface of the client device. Such advertisements may be transmitted, for example, as part of a control message transmitted by a wireless access point of a wireless network, or other message conventionally used to broadcast network characteristics necessary for a client device to establish a connection to the wireless access point. In terms of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) layered model of a network, layer 2 control messages, including announcement transmissions such as beacons, may be used for control messages.