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Facebook has decided to throw down the gauntlet to location based Social Networking sites like Foursquare and Gowalla.  Foursquare and Gowalla have been at the top of the location based sites, but that is about to change.

Facebook has announced they will be integrating location based services into their current system.  While they have not given an exact date, the consensus it is they will roll it out any day now.

Facebook will be leveraging its 400 million plus users, and should take a large market share from Foursquare and Gowalla.

The question becomes is Facebook on its way to becoming a monopoly?  They already stand as the most used site for Social Media Marketing.  Foursquare had been making a nice push, but this may be a serious blow to them, although they still have some nice pieces and a more established location based community.

Facebook has made major changes in the last year to get more dollars from their empire.  One of the biggest steps was putting pay per click ads, much like Google on the site, I am sure many of you have seen them on your pages.  Now tying in location based services will allow them to be even more pointed with their advertising.  If you’re in The Home Depot and put such on your Facebook page, look for ads for nail guns, drills, paint, etc…  They will be able to do this with all companies.

From a company standpoint it will be a great way to target customers who are specifically looking for and in the mood to buy your product.

From a consumer standpoint, privacy issues and overkill, may become issues.  Facebook needs to be very careful not to turn your page into a Sunday sales page.

Overall it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds over the next year.

As always, I look forward to your questions and comments.