Check-in Services Boast Coveted Demographics

Foursquare now boasts 5 million users with 25,000 newcomers signing up every day. But, writes Austin Carr at fastcompany.com, that massive growth isn't the only reason the company turned down a $140 million offer (likely from Yahoo), as revealed this week. The demographics of its users may be far more valuable in the long run.

According to a report released Friday by Forrester Research, location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla are attracting some top clientele. Location-based app users are far younger and more affluent than the average online user. Around 86% of those checking in are under the age of 43. More than 70% of users have earned a college degree or higher. And most impressively, the average annual income stands at $105,000--at least 30% more than the average Netizen.

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