Foursquare Has Decided To Spam You Tips Since You Don’t Open The App Anymore

Foursquare has updated their iOS application to provide tips to users who may not actually be looking for them. These suggested tips will tell notify you of interest points while you go about your daily activities, think food, coffee and shopping completely unsolicited. Think Apple Passbook notifications, but without your permission or interest.

From CNET:

The feature, which the company is now calling “real-time recommendations,” works in the background on your smartphone, paying attention to your device’s movements to guess your exact whereabouts. The app then sends a push notification when it thinks it has found a place-related bit of information you might appreciate … Essentially, the feature is designed to be a come-to-you interface for Foursquare tips, so you can go about your life, phone in pocket, and still reap the rewards

I like to call  this feature the ‘LinkedIn Special’. If you’re not actually using an app on your own, why not spam the hell out of everyone and get them to open it again. When in doubt, spam it out.

If you take the word of Business Insider, things aren’t going so well over at Foursquare. Investors don’t seem to be too interested any more.

Back in late 2012, it was being reported that Foursquare only had 8 million of its 25 million registered customers using the service still, although apparently usage is on the rise again, and apparently check-ins by their customers currently sit at 4.5 billion.

How can you increase 4.5 billion check-ins in a hurry? Easy, spam your loyal customers. Fantastic business idea.

Photo Credit: Jason A. Howie (cc)

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.