Checking in has just gone mainstream. If you weren’t convinced that a couple million
Foursquare users checking into businesses mattered, what about over 500 million
Facebook users? Facebook Places made the strongest case yet that location will play a
pivotal role in mobile social media.

Okay, Facebook Places won’t reach 500 million people at once. It’s a U.S.-focused launch, the roll out will take time to cover different devices’ apps, and smartphone users will get access well ahead of feature phones. Facebook has also said that about 150 million people use the network globally, and this third or so of the community (a rapidly growing percentage) will get to take full advantage of the feature. The safe bet is they will.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Places is designed
to accomplish three main goals: help people share where they are
in a social way, help people see who’s around them, and help
people find out what’s going on nearby. The execution at the outset
will be familiar for users of Foursquare and other location-based
services: open the Places link from the mobile application or
website, click or search for a nearby location, check in, and see if
your friends are there. This in turn is broadcast to your Facebook
friends through your News Feed, and your profile lists your check-
ins.

There are some Facebook twists. First, photos can easily be added
to the location, a feature not available to Foursquare unless one
uses a third-party app, though this is a popular function on other
apps such as Gowalla and Whrrl. More unique to Facebook is social
place tagging. If Jared and Laura go to the movies together, Laura
can tag Jared at that location. Jared will then need to approve the
tag before he is listed there. Jared can change his privacy settings
from the default of only his friends seeing his location to choosing
specific people or broadening the visibility. He could also opt out of
location tagging entirely, at which point Laura will have to be
content saying she’s at the movies alone.

Marketers will have a role to play. First, any business owner can claim their location by searching
for the place on Facebook’s website and clicking the link asking, “Is this your business?” There
will then be a verification step via the phone or sending documentation. The listing owner may
then be prompted to merge the Place with an existing Facebook Page. The owner will have control
over the listing’s address, contact information, hours of operation, profile picture and other

settings. If one’s listing isn’t in Facebook database, it’s possible to create the place by checking in
there from a device that supports Places, adding the listing, and then going back to the website
to claim it.

Once marketers are in control of their Place listings, they can advertise Places just like advertising Facebook Pages. Local marketers will likely want to experiment with such promotions, especially with the low cost of entry for running test campaigns on Facebook. Marketers can target ads to people who ‘Like’ their Places only after merging Place and Page listings.

Marketers that have applications will be able to use the API for Facebook Places in the same way
that they can use Facebook Connect. Foursquare, Gowalla and Yelp are already incorporating
Facebook Places into their apps, and MyTown developer Booyah is creating a new app called
InCrowd designed around Places. If locations play a role in any app marketers have or are
developing, Places should at least be considered.

Facebook Places will most commonly be compared to
Foursquare, and for good reason. Foursquare set out to coin
the concept of the check-in, and Facebook is incorporating
Foursquare’s language. Facebook will have one major
advantage, with about 250 times as many users as
Foursquare. Again, not all of Facebook’s users will have
access, but any way you look at it, Facebook wins by quite a
few orders of magnitude when it comes to reach.

There are key differences between Facebook and Foursquare.
Facebook is much more functional while Foursquare will have
to play up the element of fun even more now, as the badges
and mayorships contribute a lot to Foursquare’s character.
Those Foursquare users who are more utilitarian and simply
want to see if their friends are nearby could be tempted to
migrate to where most of their friends are. It brings to mind
shades of the choice people made between MySpace and
Facebook, shifting from MySpace’s self expression to
Facebook’s photo tagging and event sign-ups.

Marketers in the short term should still enjoy Foursquare’s
opportunities to reward users with branded badges, tips
relevant to venues and even deals through loyalty programs.

Facebook’s major advantage is its
500 million-strong user base.
(image via TechCrunch)