Location Based Services

Location-based services are hot. Foursquare has more than 1 million users. Google and Facebook are adding mobile “check-in” services. Where do publishers fit in? Targeting content and advertising based on a user’s location, through social media or a publisher’s own website, provides opportunities to drive new levels of customer engagement, along with new revenues. Here’s what you need to know.

How geolocation works
Four ways that websites and mobile applications figure out where you are sitting. Or standing.

5 ways publishers should be using geolocation
How to use geolocation to be everywhere at once, showcase your reporters and build the next news cafe.

Your geolocation advertising primer
We scanned the Web for companies deploying geolocation to get a better idea of how the technology is being used and how publishers can incorporate geolocation into their own applications.

Reducing the fear factor in behavioral targeting
Publishers and advertisers need to work more closely with consumer privacy advocates and regulators to reduce the fear that is hampering the growth of online advertising, according to privacy expert Mike Spinney from the Ponemon Institute.

Real-time intelligence for B2B publishers
Technology vendor Demandbase has announced a new Web service designed to give publishers and marketers immediate access to office location and other critical business data as visitors enter their website.

HTML5's geolocation capabilities
The next major update to HTML will streamline website creation and add new features such as geolocation, allowing users to voluntarily give their location to receive customized content.

The two breakout apps of SXSW (and one dud)
A mobile check-in app and QR codes could offer more opportunities for location-based advertising and content.

My advice to the New York Times? Copy Foursquare.
One half-baked idea to make The New York Times’ paywall successful (hint: it involves Foursquare).

Huffington Post adds badges, reads eMediaVitals
Earlier this year EMV suggested that the New York Times copy Foursquare. Looks like the Huffington Post was paying attention.

What is geolocation’s end game?
Data can be aggregated from everyone and extracted from everywhere. Consumers may think geolocation is a game, but for marketers it’s a new way to talk with consumers.
Source: The Lost Jacket

Foursquare exceeds 40 million checkins
Location-based social network Foursquare counted its 40 millionth "check-in," indicating that Foursquare’s growth rate is accelerating.
Source: Mashable

The future of geolocation marketing
The ability to discern a prospect’s location fulfills a vital and timeless marketing purpose.
Source: Smash Summit

How businesses are making money off of location
A presentation and case studies from Quova’s Jay Webster on companies that are making real money serving local ads. 
Source: O’Reilly  

Location-based marketing, resources and tools
Location-based media is a new way to deliver a targeted marketing message to users in a specific geographic location. Location-based services like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt are the trend setters.
Source: Search Engine Journal

10 tips: Using location to know and serve your mobile customer better
How much more relevant would you be if your customer communications arrived at the right time and right place?
Source: MobiThinking

Facebook to add location this month, integrate brands later
Facebook will start allowing users to share their location in status updates as soon as late May. Marketers, which have taken a keen interest in both Facebook and geotargeted marketing, will be integrated into the system sometime after.
Source: Advertising Age