Building on the debut of our new Places Engine and the success of our FSQ OS Places launch, we’re excited to introduce the beta release of Placemaker Tools—a pivotal step in our ongoing commitment to building the world’s most comprehensive and accurate Places dataset.
These tools represent a natural evolution in our open data strategy, enabling local communities to directly contribute their knowledge to FSQ OS Places. By empowering contributors to add new venues, update existing information, and validate place data through an intuitive interface, Placemaker Tools create a powerful feedback loop that continuously enriches our dataset. This community-driven approach ensures FSQ OS Places remains a dynamic, precise, and trusted foundation for developers and businesses building location-aware applications.
Places datasets stand apart from other geospatial assets due to their inherently human origin. Roads and buildings can be detected and analyzed through satellite imagery and AI techniques, but every restaurant, shop, and venue exists in the digital realm because someone, somewhere, explicitly documented it. This essential human element shapes our entire approach to maintaining and improving Places data.
Unfortunately, most companies today rely on merging disparate datasets of varying quality and applying sophisticated algorithms to build Places datasets. Our extensive experience operating multiple Places systems has shown that even the most advanced methods cannot compensate for poor input data quality and the inherently dynamic changes to real world places. More importantly, these methods fail to address the unique, human-centered nature of Places data.
Our journey has consistently highlighted the value of community knowledge in capturing real-world changes. Since Foursquare’s inception as a crowd-sourced app, we have fostered a vibrant community that has contributed to creating one of the most comprehensive Places datasets in the world. Beyond just recording physical changes, our community also captures the cultural and colloquial context of these Places—insights that only those living nearby or visiting frequently can understand. Whether it’s a new café opening, updated business hours, or a venue temporarily closing, these shifts are best understood and documented by individuals who experience these places firsthand. The Placemaker Tools build on this rich legacy, putting community validation at the heart of our new Places Engine.
The Placemaker Tools introduce several innovative features designed to enhance the quality, accuracy, and usability of Places data:
Streamlined Place Editing
Purpose-built workflows simplify the process of adding or editing Places, making it more intuitive and efficient for contributors.
Community Validation
A collaborative verification system ensures accuracy by allowing users to see whether their edits to a Place are approved or rejected, fostering transparency and trust
Recognition System
A dynamic trust framework rewards valuable community contributions, progressing contributors through a 10-level hierarchy based on their past engagement and accuracy.
Real-Time Impact
Verified community insights are immediately integrated into the global Places dataset, ensuring the data remains current and reflective of real-world changes.
We’re inviting all community members to participate in this beta release. Whether you’re a longtime Foursquare app user or new to our platform, your local knowledge is invaluable in building the world’s most accurate places database. Sign up to be a Placemaker today here and help shape the future of Places.
Connect with fellow Placemakers in our vibrant Discord community to engage in meaningful discussions about the future of Places data. Together, we’re building the world’s most trusted places database, powered by community intelligence and validated through collective expertise.
Become a Placemaker and help shape the future of Places
Authored by: Vikram Gundeti
