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152 points po | 7 comments | | HN request time: 0.625s | source | bottom
1. TekMol ◴[] No.42192475[source]
What is the motivation of Foursquare to open source their places data?
replies(5): >>42192489 #>>42192515 #>>42192520 #>>42192600 #>>42193031 #
2. nness ◴[] No.42192489[source]
Largely, improve the data quality from contributions.
replies(1): >>42192919 #
3. big_jimmer ◴[] No.42192515[source]
Incentivise integrations to gain market share, I assume? Maybe also grow developer knowledge and trust? I honestly haven't thought about 4S in a long time, although I am outside the US so maybe that's why?
4. Pikamander2 ◴[] No.42192520[source]
Cynically, a desperate attempt at restoring its own relevance, which it hasn't had since 2011.

Not that I'm complaining; it's always nice to have more options.

5. chippy ◴[] No.42192600[source]
There are a few reasons.

Firstly, the published reason is they intend to let people contribute and maintain the dataset. This is a good open data mindset to allow a dataset to maintain its health and grow. It would make the dataset sustainable.

An unpublished reason is that it could be a sign that things within Foursquare are winding down. Making the dataset sustainable reduces internal costs and increases the value to themselves and others. (like the reasons to open source software)

Foursquare City Guide is shutting down, and recently laid off 105 (25%) employees. I would imagine releasing data before things stop is a good ethical move.

https://foursquare.com/city-guide-sunset/

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/foursquare-just-laid-off-1...

"The letter does, however, address which units were impacted and, relatedly, the divisions that Foursquare plans to ditch, including Visits, OCF, and Foursquare City Guide.

According to Little’s letter, Foursquare is also pausing work on a number of other initiatives, including "Mobile Developers Tools, Geode, and the current version of FSQ Insights."

6. hk__2 ◴[] No.42192919[source]
Why should one contribute to this dataset instead of OpenStreetMap?
7. snthd ◴[] No.42193031[source]
"Places Pro" and "Premium Data" are not open source.