Foursquare vs Gowalla – One Location Based Service Will Break From the Pack

Race to the Finish

Everyone loves a horse race. Whether ponies, politics, or tech startups – when the best and brightest pit their talent, passion, and strategy against one another in a high stakes challenge – it makes for high drama. As Foursquare and Gowalla appear to be emerging as leaders in the location wars, things are starting to get interesting. And in this humble blogger’s opinion, one of them is bound for the winners circle.

As location based apps enjoy a post web-technology-Woodstock bump – having had their requisite coming out at SXSWi -the discussion now is simply being framed in terms of Foursquare vs. Gowalla. I’m reminded of Twitter’s ascendancy to it’s place in popular culture, when competitors were nipping at their heels. Then it was a horse race between Twitter and Pownce. Pownce was more feature rich and more stable, yet the simpler and then technically flawed Twitter ultimately dominated.

To Scale, Make Converts Out of the Dubious

Right now, the cool kids are the lab rats for location based services. I’m one of those lab rats. Yet, most of my friends and colleagues have no idea why I or  anyone else would engage in this type of online activity. They doubt the utility of these apps and harbor serious concerns about privacy. The real winner in the location wars will be the one first able to make converts of doubters. How?

Let’s go back to Twitter’s early days, when most folks I encountered would say of the service: “that sounds dumb!” It wasn’t until Twitter reached celebrities and mainstream media that “twitter” and “tweet” became part of the public lexicon. Twitter’s dominance was sealed when broadcast industry trade press touted partnerships with network news organizations – and was further propagated and amplified when local news anchors started encouraging viewer conversations around their newscasts.  Now, we’re beginning to see Foursqaure making a splash in the mainstream media trade press.

I predict we’ll be seeing local TV news stories about location based apps within the next six months.  The platform that gets their name there will be the dominant player.

So, will be that the strategy that propels services like Foursquare and Gowalla into the mainstream? Partly, but I think it will take more than that. Much of the data being shared on these platforms is information about where we shop and eat. We’re opting in to mobile market research, while sharing our brand loyalty with our respective social networks. So, there has to be a something in it for us.

This, I think will be the sweet spot where local media, local business, and consumer/users will all benefit.

Why I Think Foursquare Will Come Out On Top

Gowalla and Foursquare are both making brand and media partnerships. Gowalla currently has a better looking interface, is more feature rich, and has more of a social gaming approach. Some folks prefer the depth of the feature set. But personlly, I’m not a a big gamer and I much prefer simple. Foursquare delivers on simple.  And as with Twitter, Foursquare’s successes with adherents may be pegged to the that simplicity.

And this is where I think Foursquare has shown indicators that they’re poised to win this.  They’ve focused on strong media partnerships, and with their data analytics panel, they’ve demonstrated that to users, media, business and investors that they’re in it to create value for all.  And for their part, investors have responded to Foursquare’s positioning with agreeable valuations.

The Field Narrows

Still, my observation based hunches aside, both of these platforms are in very early stages and haven’t really scaled to a point where a definitive winner can be picked.  Foursquare and Gowalla are run by capable teams, and at the end of the day, it’s about providing the most meaningful, enjoyable experience to the greatest amount of users.  Many of my Twitter friends use one or both of these services.  As always, their (your) insights on the location wars likely inform outcomes.  Here’s a sampling.

shanebarnhill

@newmediajim I think 4S is building its user base so fast that it’ll attract the mainstream & separate from Gowalla. Best doesn’t always win

iconjohn

@newmediajim My vote goes to @gowalla. Look at all the junk FourSquare loactions, and no pics or comments.

rjamestaylor

@newmediajim – wider adoption, “noise” limited to ppl in same city, Gowalla alerts on all friend activity with no discernable way to squelch

smcgrat

@newmediajim foursquare will land into the mainstream first, which should help it secure a win. I personally prefer gowalla.

alexdc

Foursquare b/c Dennis has more experience RT @newmediajim: who do u think will win “location wars” and why? PS RT & reply @newmediajim

alexdc

@newmediajim More experience with location-based apps, after creating and selling Dodgeball to Google. Also great partnerships w Warner, etc

Foursquare b/c Dennis has more experience RT @newmediajim: who do u think will win “location wars” and why? PS RT & reply @newmediajim

Brad_King

@newmediajim to assume a “winner-loser” scenario is to mis-understand the importance of the each company, IMHO

lenire

@newmediajim what is more important then loc. Wars, is when will google pick up on this. WP added geotagging to the app, when will it be SEO

DaveTitle

@newmediajim amen. as to why, b/c 4sq taps into childhood/playground/nostalgia for key demo, also the idea of “play” in general. Gowalla? No

anniemal

@newmediajim I think there’s room 4 both. @gowalla looks cool 4 planning travel and @foursquare is my everyday check-in & connect spot.

It’s still early in the life cycles of these startups and a lot can happen to shift advantage to one or the other of these smart, scrappy companies.  And my opinion, while informed to a degree, is just my observation based opinion.  Plus there’s probably key data, ideas and alternative viewpoints that I’m missing here.  Help me fill in the blanks in the comments below!  Thanks for stopping by

Further Reading and Alternative Viewpoints

Foursquare vs Gowalla. Too early to pick a winner, or have you decided?

Checking-In: Foursquare At SXSW Music

Why Gowalla Will Beat Four Square In The Location Sharing War

foursquare VS GoWalla Checkin Social Media map

Some Crazy Postbellum Data From Foursquare And Gowalla

Sphere: Related Content

Tagged as: Foursquare, geotagging, Gowalla, location based services, privacy, social media, SXSW