Check-in only social location services under threat, says SCVNGR

CEO Seth Priebatsch thinks they could be squashed by Google, Facebook and/or Twitter.

Mobile social location services that focus purely on letting users check-in to places could face 'destructive' consequences due to competition from Google, Facebook and Twitter.

"For those services who are strictly based around the check-in, Facebook, Twitter and Google jumping in is going to be very destructive," he tells ME.

"As a community, we tend to want to think that this will raise all our ships, and it will in the long term. But if your core value proposition is just the check-in, and you get some massive players who introduce - let's face it - exactly the same feature, it's going to be devastating."

While SCVNGR uses a similar check-in mechanic as Foursquare, MyTown, Gowalla and other social location services, its USP is the way it lets brands and retailers build challenges on its platform.

"We want everything to be a little different: we don't want the Dexter badge and the New York Times badge and the Patriots badge, as it eventually gets a little old," he says. "After you unlock the 17th custom badge, you know what to expect."