The location-based discovery service, which offers merchants free access to analytics and admin tools, is now enabling businesses to claim and verify their locations instantly for a one-time $10 fee.
The free option, which includes snail mail, best I can tell, can take a few weeks. And, those are weeks businesses can't offer specials and other goodies via the SoLoMo service. No, Foursquare does not expect this to be a big money maker.
- VentureBeat
It's been a full year since PayPal bought WHERE, the Boston-based LBS/Ad/App business. What's new? A name change for WhereAds to the PayPal Media Network which Walt Doyle, former CEO of WHERE, now GM of PayPal Media Network describes as a "dynamic multi-channel advertising platform built to serve our retail partners during a time of immense change in consumer behavior.”
- Bostinno
Ready for a roundup on the state of Foursquare, Google Latitiude, Facebook and Yelp in their quest for LBS startdom? Computerworld gives is a shot.
What follows is a look at the background and differing approaches of four major social media platforms that provide LBS, with a special eye to what it all means for businesses that are looking to connect to customers. Two of the four networks, Foursquare and Google Latitude, are completely location-based; the other two, Facebook and Yelp, are social networks that have incorporated location-based services into their existing infrastructures.
- Computerworld
by Adena Schutzberg on 05/03 at 06:30 AM |
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Wallit is a free geo-social app that enables people to create and exchange one-of-a-kind multi-media messages on virtual walls located around the world. Going far beyond a check-in, Wallit is a new kind of geo-social network that exhibits the character of places. Its virtual walls provide a canvas for people to discover and share sentiments. Wallit sparks intrigue as walls are revealed through smartphones, unveiling location-specific content and inviting the opportunity to connect with others who are there.
None of the other "leave a message in space" apps have taken off. I don't expect this one will either. And, the name is a bit confusing what with all the "wallet" apps.
- press release
To coincide with Super Tuesday, the company [Where] on Monday launched its first political product, called Donate Now, which lets people make donations to political campaigns from a mobile ad unit. "Where's whole value proposition is its ability to geo-fence and serve mobile ads based on a user'slocation," a Where rep said of ads that are delivered when a mobilephone user enters a predetermined geographic area. "The technology is something political campaigns could use as well."
- AdWeek
deCarta, the leading independent enabler of location-based services (LBS), today announced that it has made its LBS, mapping and search APIs available for developers creating applications for the Amazon Kindle Fire.
It's in partnership with Skyhook whose locating technology uses wi-fi.
- press release
by Adena Schutzberg on 03/07 at 03:00 AM |
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Yesterday, the company [Google] released a video of the new game, which takes advantage of its Google Maps product. The video shows a cube with a map overlay. A small blue ball travels through the map based on the spinning and tilting of the cube. Judging by the video, it seems players will have to move through the map, hitting certain destinations to collect points along the way. When a destination is hit, a small piece of information about the place pops up, then you can go on to your next.
The game [WebGL based] is expected in February. The intro video, like other Google intro videos doesn't reveal much.
- VentureBeat
Poynt, a mobile local search and advertising firm, is now trading on the highest tier of the over the counter (OTC) market, OTCQX®.
- press release
[Walt] Doyle [CEO of Where, now owned by eBay] told me earlier this week that PayPal could be adding "several hundred people" in Boston over the coming years. (There are currently only three open jobs in Boston that I could find.) ... eBay's government relations staffers plan to pay another visit to Beacon Hill next week to continue the discussions.
- Boston.com
Foursquare's local recommondation engine is now live on the Web. It's been on mobiles since March 2011.
- VentureBeat
While the majority of dating websites do a good job of managing the privacy of their users, a class research project at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business found that 21 of 90 dating websites the class examined did not properly remove location data from pictures uploaded by their users.
- press release
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/13 at 05:48 AM |
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Narrow your search further:
boston,
dating websites,
ebay,
foursquare,
gaming,
google,
google+,
location based services,
poynt,
privacy,
where
Walt Doyle explained on the PayPal blog how Where was used in a few campaigns last year. A holiday one involved Best Buy prices/inteventory for local stores (not too exciting), but one for a thermometer was far more targeted and interesting (and perhaps a bit fear-mongering):
WHERE served up ads on mobile devices that would only appear to mothers in regions with a high incidence of flu who were within two miles of a retailer that carried the advertiser's thermometer - retailers included Target, Walmart, Babies R Us, Rite Aid and Walgreens. Mobile users who fit all criteria were shown a banner ad within an app that read "Flu levels in your area are high. Be prepared with Vick's revolutionary Behind Ear Thermometer" and then given the locations of the nearby retailers.
Doyle said that kind of highly targeted mobile ad campaign was standard practice at WHERE and was the "cornerstone for the demand generation side of PayPal's vision for the future of shopping."
I'm not clear at all how PayPal plays into these campaigns. Perhaps they provide key data to indentify the Moms based on their purchases online using PayPal?
- Auction Bytes
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/03 at 06:06 AM |
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Details
Terms were not disclosed but insiders, per Mass High Tech, put the deal at about $135 million. Here are the key points from a TechCrunch recap:
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Where offers a variety of LBS apps and has a deal offering, WhereBuys built from the acquisition of Local Ginger, last year. The apps run on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry with about 4 million users monthly. Where's LBS ad platform supports more than 120,000 retailers.
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Where will run under the PayPal division and PayPal will be integrated into Where’s mobile app as a payments mechanism for its local deals.
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E-bay may be acquiring the company in part for its patent portfolio, including a key LBS/geofencing patent granted last year.
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Where began using its products name only in 2010; until then it was known as uLocate.
My Take:
This is an indication generic LBS offerings are maxing out and the big players are looking to acquire their location technology staff while it's still small and inexpensive. That's why Apple jumped on Placebase and Groupon grabbed faltering Pelago just yesterday. Look for other big name and lesser LBS companies to be acquired before the economy fully turns around.
- PayPal Blog
- Mass High Tech
- TechCrunch
by Adena Schutzberg on 04/20 at 06:07 AM |
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