Foursquare gets a boost from Vodafone tie-in

Location-based game Foursquare got a boost yesterday when Vodafone announced they would be including the app prominently in their store front.

The service will be placed ‘on-deck’, according to TechCrunch Europe, meaning that the mobile carrier is giving Foursquare a push through its own portal/app store – Vodafone MyWeb, available on phones carried by Vodafone.

It doesn’t change the status or the working of the app at all, but it does give the app more prominent position making it more visible and thus more likely to get downloads and users.

It squeezes competitors in the social location-based game market, apps like MyTown, Gowalla, even Qype I suppose.

Interesting that certain app stores are hitching their wagon to particular apps, I can only imagine the partnerships will pay off for both of them. I mean, I was only hazily aware Vodafone had an app store in the first place. So this gives them both some publicity. It’s worth Vodafone are banking that Foursquare will take off and become dominant in this space.

Related: Does Foursquare make you sad? and Why PleaseRobMe.com isn’t going to cause a spate of FourSquare robberies and FourSquare iPhone app hits London – but what is it good for?

Anna Leach