When it comes to making money, Twitter’s approach right now is their group of Promoted Products. That is, the Promoted Tweets, Promoted Users, and Promoted Trending Topics that brands pay for in order to get more exposure. And now this coming Sunday, it looks like Foursquare will begin testing the same type of thing.
Specifically, during the Super Bowl, Foursquare is going to have a “Promoted Trending Venue” for the first time. What’s interesting is that it won’t actually be a real venue, instead it will be “Super Bowl Sunday”, which Foursquare hopes everyone will check-in to when it’s placed at the very top of the “Trending Now” area within the Places area on Foursquare’s mobile apps. Undoubtedly, a ton of people will. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up as the most checked-in venue of all time when all is said and done. Because again, Foursquare is promoting it across the platform.
So, is Foursquare making any money off of this? Right now, Foursquare’s Erin Gleason will only say that this feature is something they’re “experimenting with“. “We thought the NFL would be the perfect partner to try this out for the first time since there’s such a huge sense of community around Super Bowl viewing,” she continues. I’ve asked for clarification just to make sure they’re not making any money off of this deal.
Another element to these Super Bowl check-in is that if you shout which team you’re rooting for, you’ll get a badge — so either a Packers or Steelers badge. And these badges will apparently come with unique redemption codes that will give badge holders a 20 percent discount on merchandise at NFLShop.com. So it’s possible that Foursquare has some sort of monetary deal worked out with the NFL for this entire thing (promoted venue and all).
Foursquare’s Erin Gleason notes that this will be the first time unique redemption codes are attached to badges. Yes, that sounds like another monetization option to me. If not now, certainly in the future.
And yes, there will be a special badge if you’re actually at the game in Dallas on Sunday.
Update: Foursquare has confirmed that this is not a paid sponsorship, just a trial.
