Geo-Location: Addictive & Novel & Yes, Exploding

There's no question that the hype in geo-location services is growing but what about actual users?

Six months ago, Gowalla's buzz was climbing. Many Foursquare users switched to Gowalla and others (social media addicts) used both, as if doing regular tweets, and daily or weekly updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, Ning updates and blog posts isn't enough. After all, why not have that dinner date hold off on a real conversation for just a few more minutes while you anxiously get out your Blackberry or iPhone and check into TWO geo-location services and perhaps send out a Tweet while you're at it. After all, your dinner companion is looking at the wine menu anyway.

I've actually found myself in that situation before -- on the doing it side -- AND on the receiving side. Both are not very pretty.

Yet, services like Foursquare and Gowalla are addictive because not only do they allow you to connect with friends like you do on Twitter, but there's a social gaming component to it as well. I'm losing my mayor status in Munich so I understand, but I still carry mayor status at a few San Francisco joints despite the fact that the owners don't know or care.

That said, some venues do care and attitudes of others may change when they realize the value of addictive-natured customers who will throw their status to the wind and do it often to get the occasional free drink and the brightly colored badges that tout their esteemed mayorship. After all if you don't have the clout or perseverance to become a mayor in your real-life, why not kill yourself by pushing buttons on a regular basis to hold court online?

RJMetrics CEO Robert Moore contributed his findings to TechCrunch this week on a study that shows Foursquare's growth compared to Gowalla. Foursquare is not only 5x larger than Gowalla, but it is growing 75% faster every day.

Below are some of the results from their study:

* As of today, Foursquare has just over 1.9 Million users. Gowalla has around 340,000. * At its current pace, Foursquare will surpass 2 Million users within a week. * Foursquare is adding almost 10x as many new users per day as Gowalla and, despite a significantly larger base, has a daily percentage growth rate that is 75% higher than Gowalla’s. * Currently, Foursquare has about 5.6 Million venues and Gowalla has 1.4 Million venues. * 1 in 3 venues on Foursquare have been checked into only once or never. That number is 1 in 4 on Gowalla. * The most popular venue name is “Home,” followed by national fast food chains like “McDonald’s” and “Burger King”. * On Foursquare, men outnumber women almost 2-to-1. Exact gender breakouts are not available for Gowalla, but the most popular first names suggest a similar distribution. * Foursquare has just over 1.9 Million users. Gowalla has around 340,000.

Over the past month, Foursquare averaged 12,900 new users per day, while Gowalla only averaged 1,370. Take a look at the chart below to get an idea of growth stats - more charts presented in yesterday's TechCrunch piece.

Also refer to ReadWriteWeb's post on the Foursquare announcement to add Location Layers earlier this week. If local to Silicon Valley, check out the upcoming Geo-Loco event on July 21, 2010 in San Francisco. Discounted tickets still available at 33% off for Down the Avenue readers.