Beijing, China -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/05/2010 -- LBS, i.e. Location-Based Service, is deemed as one of the killer businesses subsequent to SMS (Short Message Service), and it enjoys huge market size and nice profit prospect. SNS, namely Social Networking Service, refers to the Internet application service aimed at assisting people in establishing social network.

Currently, there appears a novel-type service integrating LBS and SNS, and we call it Location-Based Social Networking Service (LBSNS). Through information mark combination of time series, behavior trace and geographical location, LBSNS helps the users to establish wider and closer relationship with the outside world and intensifies the relevance between social networking and geographical location. By dint of check-in record and behavioral responses in different geographical positions, LBSNS users can generate corresponding relationship with business activities of local enterprises, which enables the local enterprises to further clarify the scope of target consumers and improve the correlation degree and accuracy of advertising service so as to raise the value of local advertisement marketing.

LBSNS takes off relatively early with the well-known LBSNS providers including Foursquare, Loopt, GyPSii, CitysensePlazes, MobiLuck, Brightkite, Gowalla, yelp, etc. Of which, Foursquare and Brightkite boast of higher market shares. Additionally, Twitter, FaceBook, Apple, AT&T and other traditional SNS websites, leading internet firms, terminal manufacturers and telecom operators are all the potential entrants of LBSNS market. In China, LBSNS started late, and the typical players with application of LBSNS consist of Bedo, L99, Mogutuan, Play4f, Jiepang, Duolequ, dianping.com, etc.

There are presently three major modes of LBSNS services, i.e. Mobile Client, Web Client and SMS. Most of LBSNS providers have supplied Client for each mainstream smart phone platform, among which, iOS and Android turn out to be the preferred smartphone platforms of major overseas LBSNS enterprises. Considering the high domestic market share of Symbian smart phone, Chinese LBSNS enterprises have offered excellent support for applications on Symbian platform.

LBSNS users can share the locations with friends and obtain local business information through the function of Check-in, and later, they may make comments on the business and even get the services like discounts, etc. Quite a few LBSNS operators have introduced game elements and shaped corresponding competition and incentive mechanism so as to increase the interactivity of C2C and C2B as well as the active degree and viscosity of consumers, which has improved the application popularity and advertisement marketing value indirectly and favored the positive circulation of its business ecosystem.

The local advertising market of LBSNS possesses fine development outlook, but the entire market is now still in the period of cultivation. It is the being explored and practiced profit pattern of LBSNS operators to provide the enterprises with local advertising services, real-time advertising study and consumer concerns analyses.

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