Geo-Location The Talk of SXSW 2010

Before heading down to SXSW 2010, 6S Marketing made a video for their SXSW booth, highlighting their services, and how to “untangle the web”. The video also hinted at a major announcement that was expected to take place at the annual conference, where in the past, major announcements and product launches have become the norm. Can you spot what 6S Marketing hinted at?

A few days before our trip to SXSW 2010, speculation about this years’ announcements and product launches was heating up. Rumors about Twitter and a possible advertising platform launch, and geo-location apps for Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla, and Brightkite were the talk of the moment.

And that’s definitely what SXSW 2010 has been about: Location, location, location. Instead of launching their anticipated Ad platform, Twitter has launched richer geo-location data capabilities. Tweets now have the capability to be tagged with location information in Google Maps ( you must choose this in your profile settings). When the Google Maps location marker is clicked on, it brings up a mini Google Map with the location that the tweet was sent from, and the twitter profile pic of the person who tweeted.

Competitors Foursquare and Gowalla, two location-based services that allow friends to check-in at places around their respective cities and are awarded with badges & mayorships of frequently visited  establishments,  have been based on geo-location data since launch. However, making money off these services is something both have yet to do and Foursquare appears to be moving towards, with their recent announcement of offering stats to businesses to show when customers are checking in at their location.  It will be interesting to see what other ways geo-location based services such as Foursquare come up with in terms of a revenue model.

As for the Twitter Advertising model announcement hinted at in our video, it is expected to be announced at Chirp, the official Twitter Developer Conference, taking place in San Francisco April 14th and 15th.