Foursquare

Just like Foursquare, Yelp now recommending nearby places

Local search and reviews app Yelp is now serving up nearby venue suggestions to people based on a variety of factors, including previous check-ins, reviews, and friend activity.

The recommendations feature is included in the latest version of Yelp for iPhone and bears a striking resemblance to Foursquare's Explore neighborhood discovery assistant. Venue suggestions are now included in the Nearby tab on iPhone and are said to be coming soon to the company's Android application.

"Imagine it's noon and you're hungry for lunch, but don't want the same old ham n' cheese from the … Read more

Foursquare partners with Gnip to sell check-in stream

Foursquare is now selling unfettered access to its real-time stream of check-ins through Gnip, a popular reseller of social-media data.

The companies announced the partnership Thursday in separate blog posts that celebrate the possibilities for "data nerds" who can now use Foursquare's data pool for their cool research products. But advertisers and marketers are obviously desired buyers.

"Retailers will be able to study the results of local advertising campaigns," Gnip Product Manager Steve Perella said. "Financial analysts will have another valuable data point to forecast Black Friday sales. Real estate development groups will be … Read more

Foursquare gets better at local search with new filters on mobile

Foursquare released new versions of its iPhone and Android applications to help people narrow their searches and find just the right bar, restaurant, or coffee spot.

Application users can now fine-tune their place queries and use the filter button to tick off a number of attributes to find venues that are open now or places where friends have been in the past. People also can search by price range and sort results by best match or distance.

"When you're looking for somewhere to eat, sometimes you know exactly what kind of place you want -- cheap or fancy, … Read more

Delete Foursquare check-ins using the Android, iOS app

After a rough night out on the town, looking at your Foursquare history is a good way to figure out where you were (assuming you were coherent enough to use your phone). Sometimes you may not like what you see and want to delete any trace of where you were as fast as possible.

Or you could have innocently checked into the wrong venue and need to delete the error from your history.

Well, you can delete any check-ins directly from your Android or iOS device. I'm not sure when the feature was added to either app, but previously … Read more

Leaked doc shows Foursquare's big plans for your check-in data

Foursquare's latest pitch to consumers may be centered on local search, but the 4-year-old company isn't straying far from its check-in roots to sell advertisers on why they should spend big on coming-soon ad products.

In May, Foursquare will introduce the first of two new ad types for advertisers hungry to capitalize on data the company has collected from 30 million users who have checked in at restaurants, bars, and other venues more than 3.5 billion times, according to a pitch deck obtained by Valleywag.

Oddly, the document just happened to surface on the same day Foursquare … Read more

Foursquare CEO: Yes, actually, we are generating revenue

NEW YORK -- Foursquare's CEO wants to dismiss worries that the startup isn't growing, saying that all important metrics are rising about 10 percent to 30 percent from month to month.

Dennis Crowley, who also is a co-founder of the check-in and local search app, noted that Foursquare "doesn't talk about growth numbers that much," but the company pays attention to the number of active users, signups, check-ins, people using search and other metrics. All are rising, he said.

"There's a little perception we're not growing, which is false," Crowley said … Read more

Foursquare to sell check-in data for ad targeting, says report

Foursquare may be looking to monetize its business and settle up outstanding debts with an aggressive new game plan: selling the data buried behind 3.5 billion check-ins to help advertisers target their advertisements.

The company, which has shifted from check-ins to local search to compete with Yelp, is shopping around a product designed to let advertisers more finely target the ads they purchase through ad exchanges, using Foursquare's location and behavioral data, according to a report in Ad Age.

Ad Age cited "executives familiar with the situation," but Foursquare declined to confirm the existence of the … Read more

Foursquare raises $41M in debt deal with Silver Lake, others

Foursquare has been able to raise a whopping $41 million, but the funding hasn't come in the form you might expect.

The company announced the news today, saying the cash came from a host of well-known Silicon Valley investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and others. However, rather than give those firms equity, Foursquare raised the $41 million through a combination of tapping into the Silver Lake Waterman growth debt fund, as well as asking for convertible debt from the aforementioned investors, among others.

The cash raised helps Foursquare fund its growth and also aids the company in … Read more

Foursquare puts search first in update of iOS app

Holding true to its mission to take down Yelp, Foursquare makes search a priority in the latest update to its iOS app.

Foursquare 6.0 takes the 3.5 billion check-ins made through the service and uses them to beef up its "Explore" function. The new iOS app -- following in the footsteps of Foursquare's recent update to its Android app -- shows personalized recommendations, based on past check-ins, and your friends' check-ins right off the bat. There's also a full search bar on top, while the check-in button moves to the bottom of the screen. … Read more