Location shouldn't be solely focused on 'boring check-ins', claims SCVNGR's Priebatsch

Immediacy is the key when it comes to most location-based service apps – the ability for users to check-in without all too much fuss an intrinsic part of their usability.

However, SCVNGR CEO Seth Priebatsch has questioned whether the genre is headed in the wrong direction, with many rival apps making the humble check-in the be all and end all of location-based play.

Speaking during an interview with Mobile Entertainment, Priebatsch conveyed his concerns that some of SCVNGR's rivals – which itself only appeared on the LBS scene from a consumer standpoint back in May – are pushing location in the wrong direction.

"We're nowhere near that, and we're very explicitly not trying to get anywhere near that," Priebatsch said of current market leader MyTown, which encourages it users to spend several hours playing on it a week.

"Hitting a button on your phone just to check-in is a little boring, but if we really want to be a casual shortform game, we've got to make our interactions quick and fast."

Despite his criticism, Priebatsch pitches SCVNGR as somewhere between Booyah's MyTown – probably the most game focused of app the LBS apps – and Foursquare, which has built its foundations upon rewarding users with deals and treats when they check-in at particular retail chains or venues.

"That's overt commercialism lightly disguised as a game," he continued, claiming SCVNGR has no intention of following Foursquare's lead on the brand score.

"It will offend our users, but also it will make the brand look bad. That's not how SCVNGR is meant to work.

"Some brands don't get it: we turn down a lot of money every month - minimum six figures - because brands want to do campaigns that we think are completely contradictory to the ecosystem that we are trying to build."

Priebatsch said back in May that SCVNGR looks to add a game layer on top of the real world rather than simply offering a traditional check-in set-up.

The app, which began life as a tool for the tourism industry, claims to expand play beyond mere check-ins by setting players location-specific challenges.

Users can earn points by solving a riddle posed by venue owners or snapping pictures of particular objects in the outlet in question.

SCVNGR is currently available in 20 countries on iPhone and Android.

[source: Mobile Entertainment]