Location-based services (LBS) have become extremely popular in today’s mobile landscape. Adding the quick rise of mobile social networking with GPS and other location-enabling technologies mean the concept of “location-based mobile social networking” is turning out to be as popular as everyone predicted. Or is it?
Centrl, who coins themselves as “a location-based social network that lets you share your location with friends, discover the world around you, and learn about money-saving offers,” has teamed with NAVTEQ to utilize its “LocationPoint” advertising solution to help monetize the map-based social network.
Centrl offers a unique user experience by providing a simple Google Map-based user interface that includes simple layers one can use to add things like hyper-local coupon offers, friend’s locations and more. This simple, map-based structure proved perfect for NAVTEQ’s map-based advertising network.
With LocationPoint, for example, Centrl users on-the-go looking for nearby friends and a place to meet can view offers from nearby merchants such as coffee shops and restaurants. In addition, merchant locations can be displayed on NAVTEQ maps, and merchant services and special offers can be advertised with rich graphical promotions and mobile coupons, as well as engaging calls to action including click-to-call, route and text.
It’s a perfect partnership, but I have to wonder how many ad-ridden social networks we truly need. To be fair, Centrl offers one of the most simple interfaces, and its layer-based architecture is very straightforward when compared to others, but when are we going to see something unique and different from this category.
