Foursquare Finally Rolling Out Advertising, Here's How
Foursquare, the geographical positioning app that lets you “check in” to your favorite restaurants, events and hot spots (and earn badges in the process), is finally going to introduce advertising into its service. While that may not immediately come off as a benefit to you, the user, it allows the potential for revenue for the company behind the app — which would allow them to pay developers, expand the app’s capabilities and continually refine its functions.
How does it plan to do this? Apparently through a plan that was initially leaked in April that allows advertisers to target check-ins that are relevant to their product. Specifically, Foursquare will generate ads for users after a check-in using a CPC (or Cost Per Action) system.
A good example of this system incorporates one of the first advertising brands to sign up for ad placement, Captain Morgan, Ad Age reports. The idea is to issue a Captain Morgan ad when users check in at bars that carry the drink, hoping to persuade them into purchasing one.
Another great example would be to automatically issue a 20% off Toys R Us coupon to users that check-in to an area that is close to a supporting Toys R Us store. It’s not a universally adequate advertising solution, but it is pretty elegant and could prove sufficient in providing monetary sustainability for the company.
And since Foursquare has had little success with more conventional advertising solutions, hitting it big with this experiment might help keep the app relevant (and the lights on at Foursquare). The first unit of adspace has officially rolled out, and may be seen by some users as early as today at relevant check-in locations.
To learn more about Foursquare’s monetization strategy, be sure to check out the leaked pitch documents initially dug up by Gawker earlier this year.