‘Who are you?’ and ‘What are you doing?’ were the main questions the web tried to answer in the last decade. As we move into a new era in technology, it’s clear now that ‘Where are you?’ is now the focus. This simple query is growing from a need to know where friends are into a platform to help people find products, services and information related to their local needs.
The rise of location-based applications like foursquare and integration of geo-location services in Twitter are just the first steps into bringing the web to us, wherever we are. ReadWriteWeb discussed some use-cases on their overview of location-based services.
Just imagine.
User checks-in, via mobile phone: “I’m checking in at the coffee shop at SE 78th and Stark.”
User’s favorite services, which they signed-up for on their favorite location-based social network, respond…
The options for marketing extend further, especially with Facebook and Google bringing personalization to location. Matching user needs with the right products and services is something both have been working hard on with flavours of their own location-based services mixed with their existing technology for targeted marketing.
For developers, the options are endless if people are willing to volunteer their lat and long. Ordering take-out gets a lot easier. Attending a concert could just be a matter of showing up with your smart phone and walking to your seats. The local bus could notify you when it’s five minutes away from your stop.
The point is, as geo-location becomes ubiquitous the more latent the web can become, providing us information and services when, how and of course, where we need it.