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Foursquare has just made it easier for businesses to verify their account with the geo-social network—and made the deal sweeter for itself by charging businesses a one-time $10 fee. It's not expected that the fees will add up to much revenue for Foursquare. More important is the ease of verification, which should bump up businesses' use of the service.
Until now, if a business wanted to verify its account and gain access to Foursquare's free tools—which include the ability to launch specials and promotions, analyze real-time data about patrons and update information on your business' page—it had to submit its verification information by mail, a process that takes three to four weeks. That option is still available, but for many businesses that process was likely too much of a hassle. The three-step, nearly instant online process requires a business to find its listing on Foursquare, claim it and then verify by phone that the person claiming the listing is the manager of that business.
As of May 1, more than 20 million people use Foursquare, and 750,000 of those users have signed up for the company's free merchant tools.
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