After numerous suggestions that Facebook Places was to launch in Ireland, the service hassilently gone livein the country, allowing Facebook users to start checking-in to businesses and locations added to the social network.
We recently attended a Facebook event where the company announced it would be rolling outFacebook Places Dealsto five European countries. At the event, Facebook representatives noted that the company was working on releasing the service to all regions, today it seems is the start of the gradual roll out.
To take advantage of the service, Irish Android and iPhone smartphone owners can access the Places icon within the smartphone application. Utilising its location-based technology, the app will list local businesses and locations added to the app, allowing users to check-in. In the future the service will grow to include Places Deals, which are currently only available in the U.S, the UK, Germany, Spain, France and Italy and now Canada.
We aren’t aware of an official Facebook announcement, simply noticing a flood of Irish Twitter users posting messages of its availability:
Calling all Scaleup founders! Join the Soonicorn Summit on November 28 in Amsterdam.
Meet with the leaders of Picnic, Miro, Carbon Equity and more during this exclusive event dedicated to Scaleup Founders!
Facebook Places will position Facebook alongside other location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla, services that haven’t enjoyed as much popularity in Europe as they have in North America. Facebook will hope that Places will encourage its millions of users to engage with its location service, potentially increasing revenue for companies that partner with them in the future via its Deals platform.
Story byMatt Brian
Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him on Twitter, subscribe to his updates on Facebook and catch up with him(show all)Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him onTwitter, subscribe to his updates onFacebookand catch up with him onGoogle+.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
