Way to go Foursquare – $20 million for the best joke around

Congratulations Crowley and crew. You’ve got yourself another $20 million smackers to coast along on until your ship really comes in.

I have to admit though that even while I was laughing my ass off at the news that you had managed to convince some smart people that you had found the golden goose; and they believed you, I was also giving you the high five for being able to continue the masquerade.

After all you should be applauded for being able to get 1.8 million people to subscribe to what is really nothing more than featureware and have them thinking how cool they all are. But you know different don’t you Crowley and this is what the secret sauce to any location based featureware startup is. It is also the very thing that companies like Facebook, Twitter, and even Google as it supposedly works on their social sharing service, are beginning to realize where the real money in social media lies.

Never mind the blanket type advertising we see on Google, or AdSense. Never mind the slightly better targeted ads on Facebook. No folks, if you want to know where the real big money in online ads is going to be look no farther than services like Foursquare or Gowalla.

Yeah, they have us all falling for the fun of getting stupid ass badges for doing nothing more than continually showing your preferences for certain places or business.

The truth of the matter is that these services have stumbled onto the goldmine of Direct Marketing and Advertising. This isn’t just about winning some totally useless badge. No, it is about letting advertisers through services like Foursquare know exactly what you like. There’s no need for polls. There’s no need for scanning endless keywords. There’s no more feeling like you are throwing money down a toilet.

No, what you have now is services like Foursquare under the guise of fun bringing you your market right to your door. Not only that but the game has been played so well that these suckers have fallen for the idea that this is the best type of advertising – they want it. Give ’em more and they keep coming back because gosh darn I want the new badge that will get me another free coffee.

Well played Crowley. You should be laughing all the way to the bank.