Foursquare
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According to a report by AdAge, location-based check-in service foursquare is starting to get serious about making money. It has hired former Apple iAd exec Steven Rosenblatt as Revenue Chief, the first such role the company has had in its history.
Foursquare has shown that its serious about getting more companies to join its platform by way of claiming their venues with a new simple verification process that will run them $10. The company recently announced that the new feature is available to companies worldwide.
By bringing in Rosenblatt, the company is getting someone who has spent a long career in the mobile space. Before joining Apple, he was a VP of advertising sales for Quattro Wireless. Apple purchased Quattro in 2010, and Rosenblatt went on to help lead the iAd division.
The iAd product was introduced as a highly interactive ad unit only offered to a top tier of advertising partners.
With all of the talk today surrounding Facebook’s IPO, the question of how companies can advertise on mobile platforms effectively continues to gain steam. This appears to be the perfect hire at the exact right moment for foursquare.
Rosenblatt had this to say about the opportunity that foursquare has in helping companies reach all new audiences:
I think what we’re most excited about is helping create new products and building new tools for our merchant partners to be able to reach new customers.
He has a lot of work ahead of him, as does the company, but it looks like the team is on the right track.
Foursquare lost its head of Business Development, Tristan Walker, at the beginning of the month, so today’s announcement will help lighten that blow.
If foursquare is going to make serious money, it must figure out a way to reach its users without forcing them to take a “check-in” action, which it attempted to do with its “Radar” feature. Radar would alert you when you were close to venues and share deals with you, but as is the case with most location-aware apps, it’s an absolute battery drain.
TheNextWeb »
Earlier this month, foursquare announced a new way for companies to verify their venue on the platform. Instead of only relying on the manual process that required involvement from its employees, foursquare allows people to verify venues by paying a $10 fee.
Since there are over 20M users on foursquare’s platform, getting your venue verified so that you can take part in deals and such, the company saw a need for something faster. When the new process was announced, it was for those in the United States only.
Today, the company has shared that it’s now available globally:
Merchants: you’re 90 seconds from connecting with customers! Instant verification is now available worldwide! bit.ly/Kp198X
— foursquare (@foursquare) May 17, 2012
Sure, grabbing $10 per verification could make a few bucks for foursquare, but the real powerful thing here is that the company is now spending less manpower on getting venues into its platform using the things that really engage its users.
Its original blog post has been updated with the simple note:
The instant verification process is now available everywhere in the world!
Companies can still verify the old way for free, but this is clearly a more attractive option.
TheNextWeb »
There are quite a few options when it comes to the browser that you use to surf the Internet. You can pick from Firefox, IE, Opera, Chrome, and other smaller players that I’m probably missing. Much like mobile devices, the browser has become a powerful platform for developers to build apps on top of.
Google has actually done a fantastic job of highlighting extensions built on top of the Chrome browser in its “store”. I get sent quite a few Chrome extensions these days, but it’s difficult to write an entire piece about each one.
The best extensions serve a single purpose and are drop-dead simple to use. Here are 9 Chrome extensions that you should download and try right now:
Save to foursquare
This simple extension can be triggered from sites like TripAdvisor and Google. All you have to do is click the foursquare button that the extension installs, and it will save it to your “to-do list” within the app. This is the perfect way to use foursquare on the desktop efficiently for browsing to serve a better purpose for mobile later.
Sure, you could stick to browsing foursquare’s website to look for new restaurants, but that’s not a reality.
FVD Video Downloader
You’re in the airport and you find a really cool video that you want to watch on the plane, which unfortunately doesn’t have WiFi. How can you easily grab the video and put it on your desktop? There are numerous ways to do this, but this particular Chrome extension makes it super simple.
You can also download flash games, music MP3 format, as well as MP4 or FLV video files in just one click. This baby has kept me entertained on many a flight and train rides.
Writer
If you’re a blogger, writer, or just a simple note-taker, you probably know that getting the thoughts from your brain to the desktop can be a rough experience. There’s so much going on in blogging editors like WordPress and Tumblr, which distracts you from saying what you want to say.
Writer is a killer extension that gets you away from all of the noise and plops you into a very simple, and feature-free, writing environment that will help you focus on the task at hand. I use this one a lot.
➤ Writer
Pandora to Spotify Playlist Converter
When it comes to listening to music, I don’t stick to just one service. For a random radio-like experience, I tend to stick with Pandora. When I hear a song that I like, I click the thumbs-up button so I can remember the song later and help the service learn about what I like.
When I’m in an on-demand kind of mood, I like to use Spotify. This extension takes all of the things that I’ve liked on Pandora and turns them into playlists on Spotify. I can’t even begin to tell you how cool this is. Go give it a shot.
➤ Pandora to Spotify Playlist Converter
G+Twitter for Google Plus
If you’re using Google+ and don’t want top hop over to Twitter to check your stream, then this extension is for you.
With this extension, you can view your Twitter stream, Tweet, Retweet, and view conversations, all from within Google+. You can also share your Google+ posts on Twitter easily, which is one of its best features.
Magic Actions for YouTube
This extension kicks your YouTube video experience into hyperdrive. With features like auto-wide, auto-HD, and volume control with your mouse wheel, watching videos becomes a full lean-back experience.
It aims to make you feel like you’re in a movie theater and it does a pretty darn good job of it. This is a must-get for YouTube fans.
Screen Capture (by Google)
One of the tasks that I do the most daily is take screenshots. When I’m reviewing a site or want to grab something really funny to share with a friend, I grab a screenshot.
There are cool desktop applications like Skitch that do a great job with this, but something like this extension makes it really easy to create a PNG file from a full-screen or region of the browser.
Disconnect
Companies on the Web make money from showing us advertisements and directing us to content based on our “likes”. This is done mostly by tracking all of our actions on its sites. For some of us, that’s really creepy.
This extension blocks cookie and tracking requests on sites like Yahoo! and Google, giving you a running tally of everything that it has blocked for you. Turn this on for a day and surf the Web, it might scare the bejesus out of you.
Scroll To Top Button
One of my favorite functions on the iPhone is tapping to jump up to the top of the page. It saves me so much time, I can’t even put it into words or numbers. Why don’t browsers have buttons just for this?
There’s nothing worse than reading a long article and then having to scroll all the way back up with your mouse or trackpad. This extension fixes that and will scroll up or down, allllll the way. Yay.
There you have it, that should keep you busy for a while. Do you have any favorite Chrome or Firefox extensions? Let us know about them in comments!
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If you use foursquare to check-in to your favorite locations and share those notifications on Facebook, then you’re in for a treat.
Foursquare has announced that your foursquare check-ins will now populate your Timeline map. Before, only actual Facebook check-ins as well as location tagged images would populate that map. This is a pretty nifty update.
When you visit someone’s map on their Timeline, you can see pins of all of the places that they’ve been without you having to dig through their actual profile to find location-style updates. Adding foursquare check-ins will certainly make this a more enjoyable experience.
Good news, Facebookers! The foursquare check-ins you share to Facebook will now be sitting pretty on your Timeline Map. bit.ly/JYukBz
— foursquare (@foursquare) May 14, 2012
I noticed that my Facebook Timeline map looked pretty scarce the other day, and wondered when foursquare would start being integrated with it. Needless to say, I’m pretty stoked about it.
It looks like past foursquare check-ins may have populated themselves already, but I’m not entirely sure:
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Being a foursquare superuser is serious business, there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with the honor. Not sure what a foursquare superuser is? Here’s how the company characterizes it:
If you’re a perfectionist who loves proper grammar and spelling, if you twitch a little when you see a duplicate venue, or if you cringe at a venue with missing or incorrect information, just fill out this application to apply (make sure you’re logged in to your foursquare account). Friendly tip: you should read our guidelines first!
Basically, if you use foursquare a lot and get annoyed by duplicated, unorganized, or bullcrap venues, then you’re the type of person that the company wants to be a “superuser”. Once your account is given this blessing, you’ll be able to make changes for venues. It’s a brilliant way for foursquare to harness its community to help it make sure that it has as much correct information in its databases as possible.
If you’re one of the superusers who have signed up for this crowdsourced policing, then you know that making changes to venues isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially since the web is the best place to do it. If you’re not at your computer, then you’re pretty much out of luck.
A new third-party app called “hopscotch” is specifically for foursquare superusers and brings all of the tools together that you need to update venues on the go.
Protect and serve
If you’re a foursquare superuser then it’s very likely that you enjoy editing venues to make they’re as accurate as possible. I’ve met a few people who have complained about specific venues not having the proper address and such, and I’m always the one that ends up fixing it to their delight. It’s a neat trick at a bar, for sure.
Hopscotch for iOS isn’t a full-featured foursquare app, it’s just for superusers and allows you to search for venues to edit, or check the ones that are close to you for accuracy:
As you can see above, once you click on a venue, you’ll be able to make the changes that you see fit. Of course you must be a superuser to be able to use the hopscotch app, and once you allow the app to access foursquare, you’ll be able to make all of your edits as expected.
Sure, this is an app for a small subset of users, but it definitely makes the “job” much easier. When I’m waiting to hop on a plane, I usually go through all of the suggested venue changes and duplicates reported by foursquare users to do my part and clean things up.
Hopscotch makes this all easier. If you’re not a superuser on foursquare, you can apply to be one here.
TheNextWeb »
There are few web services that excite me as much as foursquare does, when it comes to the data that it’s collecting. Based on the venues where I check-in, there is a whole host of other information that could be relevant to me. One service in the UK is taking foursquare’s popularity and alerting its users to crimes that are happening in the areas that they check into often.
The service, called FearSquare, was created by the Lincoln Social Computing Research Centre (LiSC). The service describes itself as:
…an application that allows people to visualize and interact with official UK crime statistics in a way that is specific to their own, individual, everyday life. People can use the application to easily get a picture of the levels of crime in places that they commonly live, travel through, or visit.
Since you’re telling foursquare about all of the locations that you visit often, the practical usage of FearSquare makes a lot of sense. You might be visiting areas that have high rates of crime, or are known for specific types of crime. For example, you might be parking your car near a bar in an area where a lot of thefts or vandalism take place. FearSquare aims to keep you updated on your surroundings.
The service has taken its cue from the recently released street-level crime data served up by the UK Police.
Places to potentially stay away from
While crime happens everywhere in the world, it’s interesting that someone has picked up on newly available data straight from the police force. I’m sure that the UK Police didn’t think that this information would be used in this way, it must be delighted that someone found a helpful use for it.
FearSquare sports a “leaderboard” of the most dangerous areas based on the crime reported on Police.uk. The leaderboard gives out points to the most crime-heavy areas based on the types of infractions that take place, be it robbery or weapons related crimes:
The service also gives out points to users who are brave enough to visit the most crime-ridden areas in the UK. This isn’t a list I’d be proud of topping, but it’s there for your viewing none the less.
The site also has a real-time ticker that displays check-ins that have unlocked crime statistics, which serves as another way of discovering places that you should be weary of visiting alone:
The Lincoln Social Computing Research Centre says that its currently running a study based on its findings of users connecting their foursquare accounts with the service, so if you’d’ like to be a part of it, definitely sign up.
Even though FearSquare is only available in the UK, the service does say that it hopes to add more countries soon. Until then, I’m seeing crime-free zones for all of my check-ins in the US:
TechCrunch »
Foursquare has tweaked its history page this morning, in order to give users a more functional, searchable version of their past check-ins. Although you could see your old check-ins before, they weren’t as accessible as they are now. The new page lets you click on a drop-down box to head back into the previous months or years (somewhat reminiscent of Facebook Timeline functionality), while sidebar boxes lets you search and filter your check-ins by location, category or who you were with at the time.
Being able to pull up search through your check-in history makes for a more compelling use case as for why you should bother checking in somewhere – especially if there’s no badge, mayorship or special to be gained by doing so. (The latter of which is proving often, sadly, to still be the case). Because now, you can remember where you went last night, after getting too drunk and blacking out.
No? Not a good example?
OK, more seriously, maybe you’d rather pull up all your favorite restaurants, so you can add them to your Foursquare lists of top local hotspots. In fact, Foursquare says that’s one of the use cases it actually has in mind – and the company says that soon, it will be further enhancing this page so you can filter by venue, add tips and create lists directly from this page.
Foursquare has been busy adding a number of ways to make its local discovery features more relevant to users who may have tired of the check-in game. For example, earlier this week, it rolled out a feature that lets you click a link on a Foursquare check-in posted on Facebook to add the venue to your to-do list. It also partnered with OpenTable (encroaching on ReserveMyCity‘s territory), so users can make reservations at over 15,000 restaurants across the U.S. Again, this was something added to the desktop website, where Foursquare’s newest features often hit first. Mobile-only users, stay tuned.
TheNextWeb »
When people ask me why I use foursquare so much, they’re usually surprised by my response. Even though I share my various check-ins and places that I visit, I use the service primarily to keep a log for myself. As soon as foursquare launched, I knew that I would be able to get something amazing out of it for years to come.
Today, foursquare launched a new “history” page which will let you search through all of your past check-ins. Here’s what the company had to say about it:
Want to remember all the places you went to on last summer’s trip to Mexico? Or relive all the adventures you’ve had with your best friend? With our all-new, fully-searchable history page, you can easily jump to all your past check-ins from any month or year, and even filter them by who you were with, what type of place you were at, or which neighborhood, city, or country you were in. We’ll show you your check-in photos, comments, and friends who were there.
Here’s a look at my history page:
The idea of being able to see where I was a few years ago, with a time and date stamp, is really cool to me. It’s the same idea behind Facebook’s Timeline which is promoted as being able to tell the story of your life.
By letting me access all of my data, foursquare has become an even more useful service. There are many times where I’m trying to remember the name of my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Francisco, but simply can’t come up with it. The filters on the history page not only let me find those places, but drill down based on who I was with and when:
Along with the “Explore” option, foursquare has once again solidified its position as the number one location based service out there.
You can see your history page by visiting: http://foursquare.com/history
TheNextWeb »
Foursquare has been pretty busy lately and is bringing more features to us that make dining out a simple and seamless experience.
I’ve noted in the past that I’m now using the foursquare “Explore” feature to find restaurants and bars far more than I’m using Yelp. That could mean bad news for Yelp if that trend holds true for anyone else.
Today, the company announced a new partnership with OpenTable that will let you make reservations right from the desktop version of the site:
Now, when you’re using foursquare.com on your computer, you can make a one-click reservation, too. We’ve partnered with OpenTable to offer reservations at over 15,000 places in major cities across the US, with more to come. Just click ‘Make a Reservation’ and reserve a table for your party!
By bundling offers with reservations, foursquare is quickly becoming the best friend of all of the venues who rely on it for exposure.
When foursquare added hours and menus within its app, we noted that the service was becoming much more than just a check-in app to share your location and tips with your friends.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes foursquare to put this feature into the app, which will of course require everyone to update it. Foursquare is quickly becoming the holy grail of location exploration for me, as I’ve found that tips from friends help me make decisions on where to visit when I’m in new cities.
TechCrunch »
Foursquare is enhancing its feature set for businesses today, with the introduction of a new verification service for merchants. The company says that for a one-time, $10 fee, owners and managers will now be able to instantly verify their business in order to start using Foursquare’s business tools, which include the ability to offer specials, update the business listing, and access data about their customers and visitors.
For those businesses who can’t register online, there’s still an option to verify the business via snail mail, but this is a much slower method. Foursquare says the mail-in option can take anywhere from three to four weeks to complete. In today’s age of instant gratification, that may as well be forever.
The business verification process walks the venue owner through a series of simple steps which begin with locating the listing on Foursquare, clicking the “claim” link which appears next to the listing (note that business owners will have to register and log in with a Foursquare account in order for this to work), and then finally, verifying that the manager is, indeed, actually the manager.
Business owners and managers have typically needed to provide Foursquare with their ID, the URL of the venue and links to the venue’s website, and/or page on Yelp, Google and CitySearch. Foursquare would then review the data and would follow up with a phone call to the business to confirm.
Obviously, the new $10 fee is only meant to slow down those who would want to illegitimately claim a venue as their own, but isn’t meant to be a major new source of revenue for the company to tap into.
Foursquare says that as of today, over 750,000 business have signed up to reach the company’s 20 million users via the free merchant tools provided. The new verification feature is U.S.-only for now. (Sorry, world).
