• GigaOm, Friday, June 10, 2011 10:15 AM

From Foursquare to Google's related efforts, location-based services are expected to deliver $10 billion in revenue by 2016, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. "The biggest chunk, just over 50%, will come from location-based search advertising," reports GigaOm, citing the research.

According to Strategy Analytics, the biggest obstacle to growth remains consumer privacy concerns about location data -- an issue that has only been made worse by recent questions about tracking from iPhones and Android devices, GigaOm notes. "But if location services provide enough transparency about how they use and store this information, it should not derail the approaching money train," it writes.

No doubt, platforms providers and advertisers are salivating over the prospect of delivering increasingly tailored ads to consumers based on their specific geographic location and movements. "It's still early days but I agree there's going to be a lot of money in location-based services, particularly advertising," GigaOm adds.

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