Foursquare Update Adds Business Hours Of Operation

In a new update to the social location sharing service Foursquare, the platform is now showing the operating hours of local businesses and restaurants to users. But since it's Foursquare, it doesn't want to just provide a bland list of business hours. It also includes hours where special deals, like Happy Hour, are in effect. In other words, it's now kind of like Foursquare plus Yelp.

Foursquare, of course, is gaining a lot of traction and popularity. It has some competition but for the most part Foursquare is its own animal. The problem is that it faces competition from things like Scoutmob and Groupon in terms of local deals, and from Facebook and Twitter when it comes to actual social interaction. Foursquare is trying to find its specific voice in this world of a million social startups.

The other problem is that people may find something on Foursquare and then look up the location on Yelp, or some other third party. Foursquare wants to be the only service you use, so the addition of business hours helps it be more than just something you open up to click "check in" and then close. It's hoping to be a destination for you to find nearby places, with all the information you need to check it out.

[via VentureBeat]