DevOps Articles

How Foursquare Transformed Itself with Machine Learning

The last time I wrote about Foursquare was https://web.archive.org/web/20120610052817/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/foursquare-takes-on-yelp-with-recommendations-our-verdict-good-start-not-there-yet.php, when it was just a location check-in app for consumers. At that point, July 2012, it was trying to take on Yelp in the consumer recommendations market.

Getting back to the sources of data, I was surprised to hear that Foursquare still gathers significant data from its consumer apps. I’d long ago deleted the original Foursquare check-in app from my phone, but after checking the iOS App Store, I saw that it has two current apps: Foursquare Swarm (the current name for its “lifelogging” check-in app) and Foursquare City Guide (for “restaurants and bars nearby”).

Regardless of whether you still use Foursquare’s check-in apps, there’s no doubt that Foursquare has amassed an incredible store of location data since launching in 2009.