Location Lucrative: Check-in Services Boast Coveted Demographics
BY Austin Carr
Foursquare now boasts 5 million users with 25,000 newcomers signing up every day. But that massive growth isn't the only reason the company turned down a $140 million offer (likely from Yahoo), as revealed this week. The demographics of its users may be far more valuable in the long run.
According to a report released Friday by Forrester Research, location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla are attracting some top clientele. Location-based app users are far younger and more affluent than the average online user. Around 86% of those checking in are under the age of 43. More than 70% of users have earned a college degree or higher. And most impressively, the average annual income stands at $105,000--at least 30% more than the average Netizen.
What's more, location-based users are very influential, reports Venture Beat. "Geolocation users are 38% more likely than the average U.S. online adult to say that friends and family ask their opinions before making a purchase decision," wrote Forrester's Reineke Reitsma.
These are demographics that advertisers covet. The only issue here are the services' adoption rates. A previous report from Forrester showed just 4% of online adults have ever used check-in services.
But the trajectory of Gowalla and Foursquare--with so many users signing up daily--might not slow advertisers from checking in, too
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