Rummble was in the location-based review space before anyone had heard of Foursquare. In 2008, the website was already helping people figure out where to go based on where they were and what their former preferences said about them. But while you’ve probably heard of Foursquare and Gowalla (and even that puts you in the extreme minority), you probably haven’t heard of Rummble.
Even though 200,000 users have signed up for the service, few of them have used it on a daily basis even at the company’s peak. Rummble’s prospects were looking dim as large players like Google and Facebook entered the location-based services spac e.
A bit of an identity crisis ensued. The startup added a Foursquare-like badge system, launched a Twitter app, created a white-label product for a WiFi directory, and at one point even started a video show.
During South by Southwest this year, the UK-based startup announced a completely new focus that departs from all of its previous dabblings. While its main recommendation product will stay in operation, the company plans to focus on a B2B service powered by the same recommendation technology.
Mashable recently chatted with Rummble COO Alex Housley and Commercial Director Louisa East about how their company will make the transition from competing with location-based services to competing for their business.
Navigating a Growing Location-Based Service Space
In many ways, Housley says Rummble started in the place where location-based startups like Foursquare have now ended up. It focused on personalized recommendatio ns from the start, basing...
