5 ms·

Why do location based services still suck for businesses?

17 points by jasonlbaptiste 16y ago

asmithmd1 16y ago
Brands have cash to spend and want to spend it with FourSquare but can't get FourSquare to call them back. http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i637c45eb15b9f7a32f85067b06ee761d http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i637... Just about everything a brand wants to do can be accomplished through the API. Traditional ad agencies can create websites, micro-sites, forums, etc; but don't know what to do with a raw API -- sounds like a little bit of an opportunity...
- brianbreslin 16y ago
  Things like creating special badges aren't available via API, which I could see becoming problematic (also aesthetically a mess).
commandar 16y ago
SCVNGR seems to at least partially satisfy what he's wanting. From an end user perspective, I find SCVNGR a lot more interesting than Foursquare, too, but it doesn't have nearly the userbase.
- brianbreslin 16y ago
  scvngr has 0 penetration in my area, so for businesses its not as attractive as 4square, which is on the minds of lots of small businesses. none of them here know about gowalla either. (Miami area). I have seen stickers for 4square on store windows here.
- yesimahuman 16y ago
  FWIW I don't see much of a user base for Foursquare either where I live in the Midwest. Especially not when compared with Check-ins on the West Coast.
minalecs 16y ago
i always thought it was because both these companies are focused on traction and growing user base first. I think theres more money, in controlling the eco system, than allowing all kinds of junk to be put it into it.
sushrutbidwai 16y ago
I think foursquare definitely will launch a location aware CRM tool soon enough. I will be surprised if they dont.
mechanical_fish 16y ago
Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam? And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator? The whole notion of location-based push messaging is inane. It reeks of something invented by a person who has never lived in a city, or thought hard about what a city means. In a city you are constantly surrounded by thousands of things and people in which, frankly, you are not interested. You are interested in your own little gang. A wise person once said that your city consists of a tribe of a few dozen people, living in the same space as a few hundred thousand other tribes. If it weren't for my ability to selectively ignore 99.9% of what is happening within three blocks of here, I'd be insane. On the long, prioritized list of factors that are likely to be predictive of what I want to see blinking on my phone at any given moment, I suspect that my current location is very, very far down.
- robryan 16y ago
  What about current location and interests settings? It doesn't strike me as to bad being sent deals on things you want combined with location.
- callmeed 16y ago
  "Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam?" I'm not sure. Groupon sends people a "deal" for their city every day. Personally, I'd consider it "opt-in spam" and obviously people are eating it up. I agree that an endless stream of text messages or background notifications with $1 off coupons would be stupid. But a single location-based coupon at the bottom of a Twitter client or a one-deal-a-day text message based on your location and preferences might work. "And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator?" I'm inclined to think it's more about the local business owners. Go to a chamber of commerce meeting or grab 20 random restaurant owners ... what will you find? 40 and 50-somethings who barely understand email and the web, let alone smartphones and location-based social networks.
  - 16y ago
jsm386 16y ago
Seeing foursquare specifically, but all of the LBS companies, crawl toward offering something of value to both businesses and consumers was the inspiration for GroupTabs, which we're launching in a couple of weeks. We looked at the popularity of group deals (ie Groupon and its hundred or so clones) and decided to wed checking in with group buying. So, if X number of people check in, everybody gets a group deal that they can redeem right that moment. I was planning on waiting until we launched to do a Show HN and ask for feedback, but after reading this post, I couldn't resist asking for feedback. I'd really love to hear it - you can find more info about what we're about to do @ http://press.grouptabs.com http://press.grouptabs.com Again, not trying to plug us, and was planning on waiting until we are live, but this discussion is just too relevant.
- brianbreslin 16y ago
  wouldn't you need crazy critical mass to unlock any deals this way? only places w/swarms would qualify. group buying/groupon style sales + checkins makes sense, but not sure if simultaneous checkins is the answer.
  - jsm386 16y ago
    We're not trying to do massive deals. We're focusing on bars and restaurants, so the plan is to have deals that are 10 - 50 people typically, during a window of an hour or two. These places can't accommodate a giant swarm of people. We also want it to be that night - not something you redeem over say three months.
- asmithmd1 16y ago
  Sounds like you have a tough, double-ended sale. People will not use your app until there are some offers in their area and businesses will not make offers until...why would a business make an offer to people who are already IN their store? I think you could try this out with FourSquare's API. Monitor the number of people checked in at a venue and if it crosses your threshold add a tip to your venue with the offer. Bonus offer for people who friend the venue's bot.

Brands have cash to spend and want to spend it with FourSquare but can't get FourSquare to call them back. http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i637c45eb15b9f7a32f85067b06ee761d http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i637... Just about everything a brand wants to do can be accomplished through the API. Traditional ad agencies can create websites, micro-sites, forums, etc; but don't know what to do with a raw API -- sounds like a little bit of an opportunity...

brianbreslin 16y ago
Things like creating special badges aren't available via API, which I could see becoming problematic (also aesthetically a mess).

commandar 16y ago

SCVNGR seems to at least partially satisfy what he's wanting. From an end user perspective, I find SCVNGR a lot more interesting than Foursquare, too, but it doesn't have nearly the userbase.

brianbreslin 16y ago
scvngr has 0 penetration in my area, so for businesses its not as attractive as 4square, which is on the minds of lots of small businesses. none of them here know about gowalla either. (Miami area). I have seen stickers for 4square on store windows here.
yesimahuman 16y ago
FWIW I don't see much of a user base for Foursquare either where I live in the Midwest. Especially not when compared with Check-ins on the West Coast.

minalecs 16y ago

i always thought it was because both these companies are focused on traction and growing user base first. I think theres more money, in controlling the eco system, than allowing all kinds of junk to be put it into it.

sushrutbidwai 16y ago

I think foursquare definitely will launch a location aware CRM tool soon enough. I will be surprised if they dont.

mechanical_fish 16y ago

Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam? And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator? The whole notion of location-based push messaging is inane. It reeks of something invented by a person who has never lived in a city, or thought hard about what a city means. In a city you are constantly surrounded by thousands of things and people in which, frankly, you are not interested. You are interested in your own little gang. A wise person once said that your city consists of a tribe of a few dozen people, living in the same space as a few hundred thousand other tribes. If it weren't for my ability to selectively ignore 99.9% of what is happening within three blocks of here, I'd be insane. On the long, prioritized list of factors that are likely to be predictive of what I want to see blinking on my phone at any given moment, I suspect that my current location is very, very far down.

robryan 16y ago
What about current location and interests settings? It doesn't strike me as to bad being sent deals on things you want combined with location.
callmeed 16y ago
"Because absolutely nobody wants to receive location-based spam?" I'm not sure. Groupon sends people a "deal" for their city every day. Personally, I'd consider it "opt-in spam" and obviously people are eating it up. I agree that an endless stream of text messages or background notifications with $1 off coupons would be stupid. But a single location-based coupon at the bottom of a Twitter client or a one-deal-a-day text message based on your location and preferences might work. "And at some level companies with location-based services understand this, and are therefore reluctant (consciously or unconsciously) to build a one-click location-based-spam generator?" I'm inclined to think it's more about the local business owners. Go to a chamber of commerce meeting or grab 20 random restaurant owners ... what will you find? 40 and 50-somethings who barely understand email and the web, let alone smartphones and location-based social networks.
- 16y ago

jsm386 16y ago

Seeing foursquare specifically, but all of the LBS companies, crawl toward offering something of value to both businesses and consumers was the inspiration for GroupTabs, which we're launching in a couple of weeks. We looked at the popularity of group deals (ie Groupon and its hundred or so clones) and decided to wed checking in with group buying. So, if X number of people check in, everybody gets a group deal that they can redeem right that moment. I was planning on waiting until we launched to do a Show HN and ask for feedback, but after reading this post, I couldn't resist asking for feedback. I'd really love to hear it - you can find more info about what we're about to do @ http://press.grouptabs.com http://press.grouptabs.com Again, not trying to plug us, and was planning on waiting until we are live, but this discussion is just too relevant.

brianbreslin 16y ago
wouldn't you need crazy critical mass to unlock any deals this way? only places w/swarms would qualify. group buying/groupon style sales + checkins makes sense, but not sure if simultaneous checkins is the answer.
- jsm386 16y ago
  We're not trying to do massive deals. We're focusing on bars and restaurants, so the plan is to have deals that are 10 - 50 people typically, during a window of an hour or two. These places can't accommodate a giant swarm of people. We also want it to be that night - not something you redeem over say three months.
asmithmd1 16y ago
Sounds like you have a tough, double-ended sale. People will not use your app until there are some offers in their area and businesses will not make offers until...why would a business make an offer to people who are already IN their store? I think you could try this out with FourSquare's API. Monitor the number of people checked in at a venue and if it crosses your threshold add a tip to your venue with the offer. Bonus offer for people who friend the venue's bot.