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7.5 Social Advertising: From Viral Advertising to Microblogging and Other Promotions 219

users with local businesses, people, or events. The location of mission by friends or vendors to access the user’s informa-
people is found by tracking their mobile phones or receiving tion and to contact him or her. An “opt-out” is an option
text messages from them that provide their locations. which excludes the user from a group. Thus, users need to
remove themselves from the system if they wish to be
The Technology for Location-Based Social Networks excluded.

The basic idea is that users who have a GPS-enabled smart- Facebook’s Place Tips App
phone can let their friends know where they are. Users can
also examine locations recommended by friends or “check This app uses your phone’s location service to surface more
in” with them remotely. Users may give permission for ads to information about places you visit. The app draws on posts
be sent to them. created from a place’s page and from your friends. Facebook
also uses the app to make recommendations and may place
Foursquare and Its Competitors ads. Now when you visit a location, the app will bring up
posts and photos (see Tam 2015). Recently, companies started
Several start-ups are competing fiercely in the geolocation to use Instagram for advertising (see Smith 2015).
market. A major one is Foursquare.

How Foursquare Works Using YouTube and Other Social Presentation
Foursquare works with all major smartphones. Alternatively, Sites for Advertising
one can use the Foursquare mobile website. Either way,
Foursquare will find your location (with your permission) Using videos for advertising is becoming a major successful
and provide a map, marking your location as “checking in.” strategy. Sellers introduce new products or try to improve a
This information can be transmitted, with your permission, brand image by attaching video clips to their product pages
to your friends and to vendors. A detailed explanation of how on social networks, or their corporate portal.
Foursquare works and how to join is provided at computer.
howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/net- Viral Videos
works/foursquare.htm.
You can check in at any participating location. When your A viral video is any video that is forwarded rapidly from one
friends are aware of your location, they can suggest what you person to others, sometimes with a recommendation to watch
visit or where to shop in the vicinity of your location. it. Social networks are an ideal place to disseminate such
Foursquare provides incentives to encourage users to dig- videos, which became popular due to Internet sharing
itally “check in” to specific locations. The check-ins show up (mostly through video sharing websites, e-mail, texting,
on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. blogs, etc.). This method is inexpensive.
In Chapter 9 we will describe the use of videos for adver-
Changes in the Business Model tising, mostly via their viral impact. Here we briefly describe
In April 2014, Foursquare introduced a major change in its how viral videos work with social commerce. Social media
business model. The company changed its check-in capabil- can be most powerful when a video goes viral, because it is
ity to show users which of their friends are nearby (an app an attention grabber (e.g., funny). People forward videos or
known as “Swarm”). The company also embarked on local their URLs to their friends and acquaintances, and as a result,
recommendations, competing with Yelp. For an example, see many watch a video that may contain an ad or show a brand
Online File W7.2. logo. Certain videos can receive several million hits in less
than a week. Of course, big brands dominate here. For exam-
Privacy Concerns for LBS ple, among the most well-known viral videos of 2012 were
those produced by Nike, Visa, Mattel, and Samsung.
There are some privacy concerns regarding finding the loca-
tion of people or showing their profiles and shopping habits. Why It Works
Interesting videos seen on YouTube are usually shared through
Opt-In Versus Op-Out Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail. These posts are in turn shared
Location can be allowed with opt-in or opt-out. An “opt-in” through the same channels from the recipients.
is a permission-based system that requires a user to join or Interesting examples are available at blog.socialmaxi-
sign up. Foursquare (or a similar company) is then given per- mizer.com/youtube-business-use-cases.