Foursquare Revamps Check-In History

This week, Foursquare flipped the switch on a feature Gowalla has had since day one, and that Yelp (obviously) has had even longer. Venues on Foursquare are now categorized into what type of venue they are (Restaurants, Bars, Stores, etc...). The history page on Foursquare now shows an icon next to each of the venues you've checked into that designates which category it belongs to.

After spending a good 15 min going through my history and attributing a category to venues that hadn't been assigned one yet, I found the list was happily robust. I was able to find an appropriate category for almost every venue in my history, save a few. Luckily though, we're not permanently restricted to just those categories. If there's a category you feel may have been overlooked, submit it for review and it might be added to the list.

Foursquare might also not just be looking to make out lives easier by providing an easier way to find venues. They might be looking to corner another market, one that Yelp is already a strong contender in: recommendations. Think about it, why do we need to check-in to six different services? If I could check Foursquare for a great place to eat nearby, and then use the same app to check-in when I got there, I wouldn't need Yelp. Now, of course, Yelp has a rating system, lively community, and about two years' worth of reviews on it, but Foursquare is in a position to generate tons of usage because it incentivizes the check-in process. That is where I see them doing well right now. Yelp might have the content, Gowalla might have the UX, but Foursquare just makes me want to be mayor. That said, I also check-in to Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, and when the Yelp Android app can handle it, I'll check-in there, too.

What services do you actively check-in on? Why? Let us know! Comments!