John “just bought the best ice cream” from St. Paul Street London. This is how status updates will soon look like with the introduction of a mobile app called ‘Places’. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expects the application to steadily expand on the iPhone.
This application will not only allow the user to show where they are, but will tag the friends they are with as well. It has a ‘checking in’ link that allows the user to know how many friends are at the same place at the same time.
Facebook’s idea to introduce this application is not unprecedented. On Wednesday, Foursquare, Booyah and other location sharing sites held a press conference to congratulate Facebook on the innovation. There was no Google representative at the conference.
Some analysts say Google has the most to lose if Facebook were to capitalize on the app as a mobile advertising channel. The application will also show the user nearby places of interest that could be useful for showing related businesses. Facebook did not introduce any monetization plans, but hinted on later plans. Mr. Zuckerberg said, “You can imagine a whole world can develop around this, but we’ll check in on the monetization at a later time.”
Facebook has been taking market share from Google’s internet traffic with social network branding. Expanding into mobile applications makes Facebook a stronger competitor in the mobile market.