Foursquare finds revenue stream in daily deals partnerships

Popular check-in application Foursquare, which recently reached 10 million global users, today announced on its blog that it will be offering local daily deals from 5 new partners, including LivingSocial, Gilt City, Zozi,  AT&T Interactive and BuyWithMe.

Similar to how current local business specials are displayed within the “explore” tab, the new deals will show in real time and enable users to quickly secure a deal with just a few clicks. To avoid any spamming of unwanted deals, the company notes that deals will be delivered based on check-in history, location and time of day. Still, I’m not 100% sure that means I won’t be receiving manicure and pedicure deals.

Noah Weiss, product manager at foursquare, provides additional insight saying, “We’re using all of the recommendation technology from our Explore tab to provide highly targeted Specials to our users.  When we recommend a Special, we also provide an explanation of why we showed them this Special (e.g. “5 of your friends have been to this place” or “You’ve been to 3 similar places.”) Providing users with these personalized recommendations makes the offers they’re receiving even more appealing.”

Foursquare will be generating revenue from these partnerships, although it hasn’t disclosed specifics on what that revenue share will look like, according to Mashable. Notable daily deals giant Groupon wasn’t included in this group of partnerships. However, rumors exist that the two companies are in discussions for some kind of partnership.

Foursquare, founded in 2009 and based in New York City, has raised more than $71.4 million in funding to date. It currently has more than 70 employees in its home town and an engineering office in San Francisco.