Hilton Internet Marketing

Maybe I’m a pessimist, yet when I examine headlines stating that location-based service (LBS) provider Foursquare released updates including those enabling photo uploads and comments, my response was as follows: *yawn*.  Why?  Because rival LBS provider Gowalla, previously carried out a lot of of these capabilities last March!

The Foursquare brand has grown to be synonymous with the LBS movement, a motion that is increasing momentum as smart phones proceed to take over the mobile market. Though  Gowalla doesn’t have the identical sizable user base as Foursquare, they have established themselves to be a revolutionary leader in the LBS space.  

So, Foursquare basically launched an update to rival the capabilities of its less-popular competitor?

There is definitely more to the story than this.  This release is really a significant move by Foursquare to create competitive advantage: users of Foodspotting, Instagram and other similar location-based applications will have the ability to share their photos, comments and checkins with Foursquare.  Foursquare has made it more compelling to use their applications wherever users choose to use it (not necessarily in their app).
I spoke with my good friend and LBS enthusiast Mike Schneider concerning the new release–it would be an understatement to say he was fired up about it.

Mike had the following to say: “Foursquare has been doing just fine without a photo model and that there is no reason to apologize for being late to the game.”  He thinks Foursquare’s action to both take photos on their platform as well as “suck in” photographs from others like Instagram and Foodspotting while checking you in is revolutionary and demonstrates their need to rule the checkin world.

Previously, Foursquare did not allow individuals to comment when checking in. That capability was readily available only via other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook–this paradigm shift is very thrilling. Mike said “While no LBS is particularly good at summarizing comments and mentions related to content, Foursquare is allowing you to have them pushed to your phone as they happen”.

Mike continued: “The updated features make it easier and more compelling to use Foursquare than ever and are in line with their desire to have brands use the API to take advantage of their platform without them necessarily needing to be involved.”

Things aren’t really what they look like on the surface — these new updates will serve as a great thrust forward for Foursquare as they continue to expand in the LBS industry.  Scaling a business like Foursquare while dealing with public scrutiny will not be simple, but this is great competitive positioning for the LBS giant.

Corey O’Loughlin is a Marketing Analyst at OpenView Labs and is responsible for marketing initiatives for both OpenView as well as the portfolio companies.

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