• The Next Web, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 10:59 AM

For a small verification fee, any business can now claim its place within Foursquare’s social grid. “Until now, claiming your venue was pretty easy, but required you to wait for involvement from foursquare’s side,” The Next Web notes. “Basically, this was put in place so that normal folks couldn’t just take over your venue.” For legitimate businesses, however, “It also slowed you down from reaching [Foursquare’s] 20M users.”

In exchange for $10, businesses can now instantly verify their venues within Foursquare. They can also verify by mail at no cost, although the process is expected to take from three to four weeks). As the network explains: “Once you’re verified, you can start using foursquare’s free tools right away, like offering Specials, updating your listing, and getting stats about your visitors.” What impact will the change have?

According to TNW: “The fact that restaurants and bars can start offering specials immediately, mean that more venues will start adopting the platform.”

Read the whole story at The Next Web »