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A new Boston-based company has a plan to put users and retailers on the same location-based social network application.
Sayagle Inc. launches this week into private alpha with an application it says will offset the risk of big brother snooping and location-based spam by giving users an unprecedented level of control.
The application will let users get together based on location and common interest, to form ad-hoc buying groups that can use the leverage in their numbers to negotiate special offers on goods and services — everything from lunch to concert tickets and big-screen TV’s, said company founder Ken Huang.
“Sayagle is a real-time communication platform,” Huang said. “It actually brings the consumers and merchants — the two sectors — together.”
Huang, who is also a co-founder at the web-based annotation service WebNotes Inc. admits it will be difficult to draw users away from established location-based networks like Google Inc.’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Latitude and Boston-based uLocate Communications Inc.’s Where application. He hopes to do so with a built-in instant-message application that integrates with AOL, Google and MSN chat networks, and allows users to quickly post photos and screenshots for friends.
The ability to target ads based on location is the holy grail for the location-based services segment of the mobile industry, said Jeanine Sterling, senior industry analyst for the mobile sector with market research firm Frost and Sullivan Ltd. But application and service providers have so far approached that area with extreme caution, she said.
“Location-based advertising is certainly in its infancy because people are wrestling with these issues: Is it too intrusive, are people going to resent this kind of intrusion — this knowing intrusion of who I am, what my habits are, where I like to frequent,” Sterling said. “Companies have the capability of doing this, but there’s the social impacts that are holding them back in many ways.”
Attracted by compelling applications like navigation and social networking, consumers may eventually decide location-based services are worth the tradeoff — much in the same way employees have come to accept GPS tracking of trucks and mobile workers, she said. But for that to happen, users will need controls over what information goes out.
Huang said they’ll get those controls with Sayagle. Users will be able to turn on and off special deal announcements from merchants, or narrow them based on interest. They’ll also be able to control in how much detail they broadcast personal information and location, and who can see that information.
Huang has so far been open about Sayagle’s formation and business plan — with one exception: the name. “It’s easy to remember and anyone can pronounce it,” he said. Asked to explain further, he only said, “Maybe in a later phase.”
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