Image via CrunchBase The phenomenon known as Facebook could continue as they just. introduced a service making it easier for users to share their whereabouts with other people
Some see this as unique whilst others says it is defensive against market challenger Foursquare Labs Inc.
The new Facebook feature is called Places, aimed at helping Facebook members find friends and disclose their own location, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said yesterday. Places works with existing location-aware tools offered by Foursquare, as well as Gowalla Inc.,
Services that help Web users share their whereabouts and find nearby friends could generate as much as $4.1 billion in annual ad sales by 2015, according to Borrell Associates. The features can help marketers more easily target customers -- say, by reaching shoppers when they’re close to making a purchase. In the future, Facebook may include an advertising component to Places,
Mark Zuckerberg ,Facebook.
“As of tonight Facebook has become the most important location-based service out there,”
Places fits with Facebook’s strategy by adding new tools and ocal advertising options.
We can all make money from a user base that surpassed 500 million recently.
We think Facebook’s entry doesn’t mean the immediate death of other location-based services although it will be more intensive effort to evolve them.
Whilst 25% of Facebook users access the site via mobile devices, r a location feature could send a coupon or special offer to users when they’re near a retail area or driving by motorway services.
While others made earlier inroads into the market for location- based services, any user base is dwarfed by Facebook’s.
Facebook makes Places compatible with business site Yelp and will soon be available on the Apple iPhone and elsewhere on the mobile Web.
Protecting Privacy
Places will include comprehensive privacy controls, Facebook said. When users opt in to the service, their locations are only available to friends. They can choose whether to more narrowly share the information or post it broadly.
“Facebook made the absolute right decision by making this opt-in,” Debra Aho Williamson, EMarketer Inc.
We think these privacy controls are smart and intelligent.
Take a look at Foursquare who reached 1.8 million users in June, up from about 1 million in April.
This makes it worth about fifty million pounds (GBP)
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