Why Facebook Changing Places Into Locations Is So Cool. Facebook announced a series of upcoming changes this week, and while most of the attention was on a revamping of the privacy system, the transformation of places is possibly more significant. Facebook is phasing out places positioned as a geolocation service in order to focus on tagging posts with location, similar to how Twitter works. I see six implications of this change, based on the video (embedded beneath this post) that Facebook produced to explain the new changes. Disclaimer: All of these things might change once the features go live. The will be three options for posting an update: update status, add photo, ask questions.
This replaces the current format showing “share: status, photo, link, video, question.” A comparison of the two appears in the screenshot above. My assumption is Facebook sees more activity from status updates, photos, and questions, so the site’s trying to build the platform around the most popular features. Do businesses need location tagging? One Year Later, Facebook Killing Off Places …To Put Location Everywhere. 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 large round of funding valuing them at $600 million. And Facebook is killing off Places. 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. Reading over Facebook’s own post on the location changes, it wasn’t entirely clear what these changes meant for the concept of the check-in itself.
As the new location page makes clear, Facebook now views location usage in three main ways: Share where you’ve beenShare where you are nowShare where you’re going Past. “Around The Web” Feature on Facebook Pages Shows Foursquare, Other Location Links. Some Facebook Places Pages for local businesses and locations are now showing an “Around The Web” panel listing of links to corresponding venue pages of the sites of Facebook’s Places partners: Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, SCVNGR, and Booyah.
These links could help businesses drive traffic and checkins to their other online presences. Foursquare tells us its inclusion in Around The Web is not part of its official partnership with Facebook. Therefore the feature may simply be designed to provide useful information to Facebook users, rather than signaling a deepening of Facebook’s existing Places partnerships, or the fulfillment of terms of the original partnership announced a year ago. Third-Party Location Service Links Beneath the profile picture and navigation menu of some Places Pages that list a street address, such as San Francisco’s Bender’s Bar & Grill, there is a now an Around The Web panel.
Not Part of Official Partnerships. Facebook Promotes Group Buying Feature Deals With Home Page Ads and Emails. Facebook stepped up its marketing efforts recently for its new group-buying feature Deals. Users have seen home page ads asking them to invite their friends to subscribe to news feed and email notifications about Deals. Meanwhile, Page admins have received location-customized emails from Facebook explaining that Deals could help them acquire more customers in their city.
Facebook needs to build large subscriber and provider-bases to prime the service for an explosive formal launch. On March 15th, Facebook soft-launched Deals, showing news feed stories asking users to sign up to hear about local pre-paid group experiences they could have with friends. The service, which lets users purchase packages such as a luxury winery tour for $50, uses the same name previously reserved for Facebook’s location-based Places checkin rewards system, now call Checkin Deals.
The marketing emails Facebook sent out include localized information. Location-Based Services: Foursquare vs. Facebook Places. Ask any marketer about trends for 2011 and you’ll undoubtedly hear the phrase “location-based services.” However, among Foursquare, Facebook Places , SCVNGR, Gowalla and many others, marketers have a lot to choose from.
In this article we’ll cover the two major players— Foursquare and Facebook Places —and see how they stack up . What are location-based services? Location-based services allow users to connect with others based on their current locations. Many of these services also have a gaming component, allowing members to compete against one another or to collect rewards (like online badges) for their activities. Foursquare offers badges that are unlocked as an incentive for checking in at local venues and events. So why do marketers love location-based tools so much? A few reasons: #1: Free word of mouth Because each check-in is broadcasted to a user’s friends, there’s natural word of mouth advertising that occurs through the site.
. #2: Reviews #3: Specials Users Activity Deal Options Reach Tips. Find Deals on Facebook. Inside Facebook - Tracking Facebook and the Facebook Platform for Developers and Marketers. Facebook wants to clean up like-baiting and other spam Facebook vowed Thursday to keep the News Feed cleaner of spam, calling out pages that use like-baiting and other shady techniques to game the algorithm and receive outstanding organic reach. Many times, passion pages or other types non-business affiliated pages will share an image while begging for likes, comments, and shares — launching the content into more News Feeds. However, Facebook says that this content is, on average, 15 percent less relevant than content with similar vital stats. So Facebook is taking action against like-baiting posts, as well as content that is repeatedly shown in News Feed and spammy links. (more…) Sponsored Post Hands-On Social Media Training for Beginners In our Social Media 101 boot camp, you’ll determine the social media sites that matter most to you, based on personal and professional goals.
UPDATED: Is Facebook’s neglected sidebar on the rise? (more…) (more…) Facebook to enlarge images in sidebar ads (more…) Get Up to Speed on Location-Based Service Adoption. Many are claiming this year as the year of "social mobile". Even Facebook’s CTO announced that one of the primary objectives for Facebook this year is mobile, a statement that is backed with increased emphasis on its geolocation tool – Facebook Places. This said, social media marketers should get up to speed on the adoption of geolocation tools, and review current insight on consumers attitudes and preferences when it comes to "checking in". I hope to share e-marketer data from a few recent reports that will give us a snapshot of this space. How Many Users are Checking In? A study by SNL Kagan compared the recent increase in location based service users from 2009 to 2010 and found that it nearly tripled.
This, combined with the explosion of smart phone adoption, means that 2011 is bound to experience even stronger growth within geolocation tools. Where are users Checking In? Why are they Checking in? Another study, conducted by JiWire in November shows slightly different motivations. Facebook Launches Deals Page on Site. An Awesome Comparison Guide for Creating Location-Based Deals. By Lisa Peyton on Jan 06, 2011 Deals. They are everywhere these days. With our economy in a serious recession, consumers are laser-focused on getting the most for their money and EVERYONE loves a great deal. With the advent of location-based applications like Foursquare and Facebook Places, deals are becoming more relevant than ever before. The ability to geo-target a consumer walking into your store or down your block is a marketing first, so it’s not surprising that many platform developers are jumping on the “location-based” bandwagon. All the hype surrounding these new tools makes it difficult for business owners to make informed decisions about where to put their efforts.
I chose to report on the most popular applications for location-based deal creation as well as those I have the most experience with. One critical question that needs to be asked is “WHO is using these platforms?” Application Demographics The Comparison Chart The Platform Details: Facebook Places Gowalla Foursquare.