Foursquare Scores As Facebook Scraps Places Check-Ins

Facebook has confirmed that it will remove its Places check-in feed from its mobile apps and interface, just a year after it was unveiled, with only 6% of Facebook users trying out the service. Many industry observers had then feared that Facebook’s social location service posed a serious threat to other providers, such as Foursquare and Gowalla, because of its sheer number of users. 

Facebook has confirmed that it will remove its Places check-in feed from its mobile apps and interface, just a year after it was unveiled, with only 6% of Facebook users trying out the service. Many industry observers had then feared that Facebook’s social location service posed a serious threat to other providers, such as Foursquare and Gowalla, because of its sheer number of users. 

It was almost exactly one year ago that Facebook launched Places, their location-based offering. Reading the press at the time, you would have thought it was going to be the Foursquare-killer, the Gowalla-strangler, the Loopt-beheader, etc. Nevermind that Facebook partnered with all of them for the launch — those guys were done.

Fast forward to today: Foursquare recently raised a $50 million funding round with a valuation of $600 million.

Foursquare is now in a terrific position. They have the best check-in data across the nation and perhaps across the globe. Backend problems have given way to a torrent of new features. Serious revenue seems to be within reach thanks to the addition of daily deals. There are already five billion mobile subscribers worldwide, and that number will grow, along with the percentage who own web enabled smartphones. The king of the check-in is poised to sit atop a very big business.

[quote]”Far from concentrating on what others are doing, we’re 100 percent focused on continuing to build an amazing product that changes the way people experience the world around them,” a Foursquare spokesperson said.[/quote]

But as part of sweeping redesign that emphasizes privacy, Facebook is phasing out its Places feature for mobile. It’s a tacit admission that Mark Zuckberg’s policy of shoot first, ask questions later, of always pushing the boundaries of personal privacy, doesn’t apply to all markets. And as with many features introduced by Google and Facebook in the social space, a reminder that the size of your network doesn’t always guarantee you can co-opt a market from early movers.

To be clear, Facebook is not ducking out of the location game itself. In fact, you could say that they’re doubling-down on it. But they are moving away from the game that the “check-in” services have been playing. And a result of that is Places being killed off and being replaced by new “Nearby” area.

Facebook now views location usage in three main ways:

• Share where you’ve been
• Share where you are now
• Share where you’re going

Past. Present. Future.

This is smart, as it’s something none of the other location services have really nailed yet. And now that location is being emphasized on every Facebook action (though it can easily be turned off) — and not just on mobile — a lot of people are going to use it. Location as a layer of context is about to get a big upgrade.

All of this is also smart from a location-based advertising strategy. It’s more data and more strong signals. What is not yet clear is what this means for Facebook’s location-based deals service. Launched alongside Places last year, it would seem that this never really took off. And Facebook doesn’t mention it today.

Here’s what Facebook has to say on the check-in deals:

[quote]”Once someone tags where they are on Facebook, they will be directed to the News Feed. If the Place is offering a Check-in Deal, the title of the deal will appear below the News Feed story. You’ll then be able to click on the deal title and will then be taken to the claim flow.”[/quote]

Via TechCrunch and BetaBeat and VentureBeat