Three weeks after of the official Geotagging API release I made a quick search looking for applications that use a combination of Twitter and maps. Note that these applications are not necessarily using the Geotagging API. My main interest was to find integrations of twitter and location/maps. SOME of the results are attached to the end of these notes. Note I didn’t try them or endorse here any of those applications. I hope you can leave a comment if you are using any of them.

Looking for answers

After a few days of looking at my word processor’s empty page I remained only with questions (and very few answers). Instead of continuing to look for some insights, let me share with you what I’m trying to understand, may be together we can come up with some logic.

1. If we consider that the reason to put a business, or invest time in development, is to generate revenue, how are those companies going to monetize this map integration?
2. I can understand the business side of collecting information for data mining, but what is the actual added value for a user to see tweets in a map?
3. Twitter makes two things clear. The first is that you can “delete all location data”, and the second is that there is no guarantee the information will be removed from all 3rd party application’s. What about some privacy standards? Are you aware that 3rd parties are storing, using and maybe selling your location? It might be useful to control where employees are twitting from…
4. Asking for business models for applications around twitter is already difficult. Considering the costs of putting a location application, including maps, data transfer and other LBS components, do you have an idea how to monetize this integration?

As I mentioned, I have many other questions. Once you get bored of seeing windows of tweets opening over a map give me a call. May be we can use these features to develop something useful to the users and profitable for the ones investing the efforts.

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Some of the Apps that integrates Twitter and Location / Maps

Following are some of the Twitter + maps apps I found. The challenge was to describe them in 140 characters or less and where possible I added the twitter ID of the developers.

Feel free to “cut and tweet”

Continue reading and see the full list of Twitter and Maps app here

Add-on for Browsers

RT @schapsis TwitArea Tweet the address, phone number and location of any place worth tweeting in seconds http://bdnooz.com/i2n

Download

RT @schapsis TwitterLocal is going 2 be smply an Adobe AIR based application that allows u 2 filter Tweets by location http://bdnooz.com/s0d

Websites (Mashup)

RT @schapsis Boarding helps U find other stranded travelers by simply tweeting #boarding along w/ yr airport code http://bdnooz.com/4dt

RT @schapsis GeoChirp helps you search for people Twittering for specific things in a specific area. http://bdnooz.com/7ua

RT @schapsis Geo.ly is integrated w/ twttr – just tweet an address 2 @geoly & receive a tweet back w/ yr map url http://bdnooz.com/pkg

RT @schapsis GeoTwitter The most recent updates are fetched from the public timeline and mapped http://bdnooz.com/zez

RT @schapsis Happn.in | Local Twitter Trends – Twitter with a local focus http://bdnooz.com/ktf

RT @schapsis MyTweetMap|PLace your friend tweets on a map http://bdnooz.com/j7u

RT @schapsis Nearby Tweets geo-centric tool 4 social networking, customer relationships, & monitoring real-time buzz http://bdnooz.com/17e

RT @RoadTweets is an iPhone app that makes it easy to share trip updates from the road http://bdnooz.com/b96

RT @schapsis Use SadakMap to post Location aware Twitter udpates http://bdnooz.com/16o

RT @schapsis tmeet is a tweet 2 meet. U cn send a tmeet abt yr location 2 tell yr friends whr U R, wht U R doing, etc http://bdnooz.com/qfb

RT @schapsis Tweetervision see tweets in their geographic context! http://bdnooz.com/pqm

RT @schapsis Tweetmondo allows U to find other Twitter users based on their geographical location http://bdnooz.com/h9g

RT @schapsis TwittEarth :: Live Twitts all over the world  http://bdnooz.com/v74

RT @schapsis Twibez is 4 everyone who is interested 2 C all twitter messages in western europe in realtime on a map http://bdnooz.com/wyl

RT @schapsis TwitterMap is a geographic visualization of posts to Twitter, using Twitter Feeds and Google Maps http://bdnooz.com/ouo

RT @schapsis TwtMaps allows U 2 enter yr twttr name & get a map that shows all yr friends locations,& info abt friend http://bdnooz.com/sp0

Yahoo Pipes

Yahoo Pipes is a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web. The following are some of the Pipes that combine tweets and maps NOTE: If you know the twitter name of any of the pipes’ developers mentioned bellow, please send me a note and I’ll include them here.

RT @schapsis geoTwitterous A pipe to augment your twitter feed with info from the twittervision API http://bdnooz.com/te8

RT @schapsis Twitter Map Search Search a keyword on Twitter and view the result on a map! http://bdnooz.com/tw1

RT @schapsis Twitter What Where This Pipes app shows where people are tweeting on a particular topic Pipe Web Address: http://bdnooz.com/w1c

RT @schapsis Tweets Nearby See the tweets happening near a Twitter user’s location. Pipe Web Address: http://bdnooz.com/u1m

RT @schapsis GeoStatus Converts emails in2 a feed wth a LNK 2 Google Maps. Subject bcms a Twtr msg wth a LNK 2 a map: http://bdnooz.com/2pq

RT @schapsis Tweets on a Map Shows posts to Twitter by a location you choose. Pipe Web Address: http://bdnooz.com/eku

RT @schapsis Twitter Locate adds the location of each of your followers to the updates. Pipe Web Address: http://bdnooz.com/omr

RT @schapsis Your Twitter Followers Location Enter your Twitter ID 2 find out where your latest followers are located http://bdnooz.com/h1f

RT @schapsis Twitter Friends Show your Twitter friends on a map that can be easily added to your blog’s sidebar  http://bdnooz.com/uef

Have you read PART 1? I’ll strongly recommend reading part 1 first.

As mentioned in part 1 the main components in the LBS Value Chain are: the location based service provider or developer (LBS APP), the data carrier (a cellular provider like T-Mobile, AT&T, etc), and the customer.

As Part 3 will talk about Web 2.0 strategies for Location Based Services and particularly for Location Based Social Networking, we need to completely understand every piece of the puzzle. Otherwise your model will be leaking money (pouring in some cases). Moreover understanding the players and trends will allow you to craft long term solid strategies.

A more comprehensive value chain shall include:

Location Based Services complete Value Chain by Claudio Schapsis

MAPS: Most LBS applications utilize maps; therefore their cost shall be added to the equation. The map market can be considered a duopoly dominated by Navteq and Teleatlas.

Consider: those companies were acquired recently by Nokia and TomTom.

Ask: How can they affect your business by controlling the LBS market. Can your application change the map provider easily? Do they cover all the areas you plan to service? Can you grow to other markets (internationally)? Does your international strategy fit your provider’s existing maps? What are their plans of expansion? How are you getting charged? What layers of information are included in that charge? The list of questions doesn’t end here and is closely related on the type of service you are planning to offer.

MAP INTERFACES: If you want to use map providers like Navteq and TeleAtlas you will need to pay a premium price to companies that provide interfaces to those maps – such as Autodesk, Decarta, etc. Your applications can also be based on Google maps (TeleAtlas data) or Microsoft maps (Navteq data) API’s.

Consider: 1) This factor is almost unavoidable and in some cases the API selection will link you to a specific map provider. 2) While is true you can freely use Google and Microsoft interfaces, bear in mind you will need to pay them for the use of the maps when you start making money.

Ask: What is the price structure? Is the payment per map? Are you getting charged for each customer you serve? (oh yes, you do). Can your API support other map providers? Can you add your own maps? How much will cost to add specific regions? Do the charges include Points of Interest? Does the price include point to point routing capabilities? Can you provide PSAP information? What platforms do you support? How will you display information in different types of cellular phones?

Remember that once your development is committed to one of these platforms, it will be expensive to migrate to other. Again I strongly recommend checking their pricing structure. Most start for free but you will “pay the price” later.

M2M PROVIDER: In most cell phone based services, the communication costs are paid by the customer (SMS or IP-Data). If your service is based in a specific device (like a pet tracker) you will need to include a cellular operator or aggregator to fulfill the mobile communication. You will probably use a GSM provider and your device will include a SIM Card. Those carriers are known as Machine to Machine providers (M2M). Today the M is interpreted in many ways – Man-to-Machine, Machine-to-Man, Machine-to-Mobile, Mobile-to-Mobile, Mobile-to-Machine, etc. Usually M2M providers are small mobile operators with roaming agreements and/or mobile resellers/aggregators with services provided in the background by companies like AT&T, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Verizon, Vodafone, etc (Big Carriers).

Companies that fall in the M2M category are  Jasper Wireless, Kore Telematics, Wyless and many others. As these companies usually buy large quantity of network capacity, or have roaming agreements, the solution you will get is usually better, more focused and cheaper than approaching directly the Big Carriers. Moreover, many Big Carriers require particular certifications, and with these M2M providers, the process is usually transparent.

Consider: 1) Choosing a M2M provider is a long term commitment. Imagine you have thousands of devices in the market and you need to recall them to change their SIM card (I don’t think so…) 2) You can use SMS and/or Data transmissions (TCP / UDP). Each one has pros and cons. Just remember to use the * symbol in excel you will be amazed with the numbers. For example, if your model is based on SMS (let’s say $0.08 per SMS), and you have just 5000 units, reporting every 5 minutes half day; your annually bill will be more than $20,000,000 (yes, twenty million). Is your projected income covering that?

Ask: What is the price structure? Do you have a minimum volume commitment? Can data (or SMS) be pulled? If using data, what is the rounding per session? Do you provide VPN services? Will your device have a fixed IP address? Do you have an activation portal/API? Do you charge activation fees? If SMS, do you provide SMPP gateway services? Do Mobile Originated and Mobile Terminated messages have different prices? What type of certification do you require (FCC, PTCRB, EC, etc)? Does your service require non standard certifications (particular of a Big Carrier?) Do you provide roaming? How much will you pay for roaming? Where do you roam? Can you permanently roam?

GPS ENABLED DEVICE: Now you need to write the application. If your service is not installed in a cellular phone, you will need to provide your customers with a device with GPS and mobile communications capabilities i.e. most Personal Locator Devices (PLD). This is a topic by itself and I’ll devote a different post for it.

Bottom Line: The sum of all those expenses + YOUR PROFIT is what the customer usually will pay for some Value Service. This is your Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU) or your Customer Acquisition Cost depending on the business model you choose (see part 1). If your customers are reluctant to pay your fees, or your investors consider the burning cost and risks associated too high, most probably you have done something wrong along the way.

Having almost all the components clear, I’ll elaborate on part 3 on Location Based Services business models based on Web 2.0 strategies particularly free Location Based Social Networking and their specific value chain.

TO THE READER: as my list of considerations and questions is limited for readability I’ll appreciate your comments, particularly on:

What else would you recommend to consider for each category?

What else would you recommend to ask to the providers in each category?

Thank you again!