It was only a matter of time before mobile phones became full-fledged marketing platforms. In principle, there is little separating them from televisions, radios or computers, all of which have been used for promotional purposes since their inception (or soon after.) What was lacking, according to TechCrunch, were network improvements and smart phone technology that enabled a majority of wireless phone users to download apps. Once these emerged, service providers and startups began an ongoing mad dash to create “location-based services”, which allow users to broadcast their exact locations. Today, a crowded field of companies (some new, some well-established) are vying for the attention of local businesses, promising them the marketing opportunity of a lifetime: the ability to advertise to consumers who are already nearby. By 2014, Juniper Research predicts that revenues from mobile location-based services could surpass $12 billion. Billshrink profiles 12 of the most prominent location-based service companies below.
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