The new Facebook Places product was rolled out yesterday in a clear and direct response to the popularity and (ad potential) of similar services such as Foursquare and Gowalla. Like other location-based social networks, Facebook Places lets users see where their friends are and share their physical location. So what does this announcement mean right away to brands?

As of right now:

It’s Not Available Everywhere…Yet. As of right now, Places is only available in the US and only via the Facebook iPhone application and through mobile access to touch.facebook.com. It will be rolled out to more geographies and on other platforms like Android shortly.

Facebook is Playing Nice With Foursquare and Gowalla. Executives from both networks spoke at last night’s launch event touting their integration with the new Places product. Read the rest of this entry »