Posted by Adrian Goodsell, Head of social media
UPDATE: Yesterday I posted about Foursquare and how it was providing retailers with new opportunities to deliver traditional promotional mechanisms to tech-savvy customers. Well before the digital ink had even dried on that post Facebook had launched their own location-based service, Places. The service is (theoretically) available on the latest version of Facebook for iPhone and is partnering with Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and Booyah.
There has been a lot written on what this means for the ultimate fates of Foursquare et al already. I won't expand on that discussion here.
What it does mean is that geo-location 'check in' services are going to go mainstream sooner rather than later. Yes, even in the UK.
Facebook has enormous reach, with over 26 million users based here. Checking in is suddenly a core function of the platform - a really useful function, as people tend to connect with their real-world friends on Facebook. Now it looks like you will have a way of letting friends know where you are without having to leave the Zuck's iPhone App.
This is big news for retailers. Successful experiments with geo-location marketing strategies are soon likely to bring in greater rewards now that one of the true internet giants has entered the fray. Truly exciting times for location-based services.