Foursquare Boasts Half a Million Registered Merchants

Foursquare is continuing its rapid growth. In addition to the 10 million users boasted by the company, Foursquare has just reached the 500,000 mark for registered merchants.

How Foursquare Draws Businesses

Half a million merchants is no small deal, especially since the merchants actually have to register their business to be counted toward this figure (number for total businesses that display on foursquare is much, much higher).

The big figure is a sign of health for the Foursquare community, but it's also much more: an indication of a change in how local companies market themselves and a giant glowing light indicating an opportunity for a successful ad model that few ad companies have yet to take advantage of.

But it's not just the model itself that's appealing to merchants who register with Foursquare. As outlined in the Foursquare blog, the company allows businesses to:

  • "offer specials to their customers, helping [businesses] find new [customers] and rewards their most loyal ones,"
  • "see useful information about their visitors,"
  • "customize their venue page, making sure the address and map are accurate and adding a twitter handle and description."

The price for all this goodness? Five dollars less than a Lincoln (which is to say, absolutely zip).

The Continual Rise of Foursquare

We previously reported on Fourquare's rapid growth when the two-year-old company hit the 10 million user mark. This figure represents 1000% annual growth. As smartphones and tablets continue to rise in popularity, it's expected that foursquare adoption will continue its rapid expansion.

The 10 million users and 500,000 merchants aren't the only items worth looking at with the world's favorite geo-location service, however. As discussed by Mashable, foursquare "recently raised another $50 million in funding and just announced a nationwide partnership with American Express."