GOOGLE LATITUDE NOW HAS CHECK-IN FEATURE

Just like Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook, you can now check-in using Google Latitude. The feature is available in the just released Maps 5.1 for Android. It will allow for both check-ins and check-outs, along with all the features of the other services are in there as well.

FACEBOOK USING YOUR LIKES AND CHECK-INS TO CREATE ADS

Facebook just figured out a new way to make money off of your status updates and likes, and it’s a doozy: they’re now using your likes and postings about products and services to display to friends in advertisement form.

Showing up quietly on Wednesday morning without any mention from Facebook, you can see the new ads at worked in the right-hand ad column. If you friends check in at business or like other websites or products, and if Facebook has an advertisement deal with that company, you’ll start seeing their status updates as a “Sponsored Story.”

“Currently, marketers don’t have the ability to know or plan word-of-mouth endorsements as part of their campaigns,” Facebook’s product marketing lead Jim Squires told the Wall Street Journal. “This gives a way for marketers to increase the visibility of stories about their organization… this is word-of-mouth marketing at scale.”

Sound familiar? It should: back in 2007, Facebook tried more or less the same thing with Facebook Beacon, which turned into a huge class-action privacy lawsuit last time around because of the way it allowed marketers to publish off-Facebook purchases directly to users’ walls.

The current system isn’t likely to spark any class-action lawsuits, but it’s still got some privacy concerns associated with it: although Facebook will respect your privacy settings when it comes to sharing your content with strangers, there’s no way to stop Facebook from turning your wall status updates into a billboard to annoy your friend list.

FORCE YOUR ANDROID PHONE TO CHECK FOR AN UPDATE

You have read, on Teh Gay Geek of course, that an update has been released for your Android phone, but after patiently waiting your phone just sits there doing nothing. Well, now you can force your mobile phone to check for an update just by punching in a few symbols and numbers.

To get your phone into the queue right away, dial *#*#checkin#*#*, substituting the dial pad numbers for the letters. I used it on a Nexus S to pick up a bug-fixing upgrade, and users of other Android phones on different networks, like the Droid Eris on Verizon, have seen some success with it. Let us know in the comments section below if it worked for you. [Gizmodo]

GOWALLA INTEGRATES RIVALS FOURSQUARE AND FACEBOOK

Gowalla with its newly updated iOS application hopes to keep users immersed by removing the need to switch apps if they choose to check-in with multiple services. Gowalla 3.0 allows users to irritate their friends like never before by allowing them to check into Gowalla, Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr simultaneously. Other additions in version 3 include better Retina Display support, a tweaked UI and bookmark support for visited places. Gowalla might not be the biggest LBS in the bunch, but by unifying the check-in process it hopes to become a one-stop shop that will simplify check-ins for active users. [BGR]

FOURSQUARE TO ALLOW BUSINESSES TO BOOT MAYORS

Foursquare has given verified businesses the ability to oust mayors they believe to be fake and the check-ins fraudulent.  When the business gives the mayor the boot, the next in line automatically becomes mayor.

A Foursquare spokesperson stated "esterday we gave verified business owners the ability to oust a Mayor if they have reason to believe the Mayorship was not gained through legitimate check-ins. If a Mayor is flagged by a business owner, they’ll be removed from office immediately and the next user in line will take over as Mayor.

We’re still in the very early stages of experimenting with this feature and will most likely be tweaking it based on feedback from business owners."

Foursquare started the crack down on cheaters back in April when it started to take the users physical location into account. [TechCrunch]

FOURSQUARE DEBUTS 'I VOTED' BADGE FOR 2010 MIDTERM ELECTION

Today is election day, so get your butt out and vote! As an incentive Foursquare just announced a special badge just to show that you voted in today's election! You can grab the 2010 election badge anytime today by voting and then checking in at your local polling place. The company is teaming up with a host of other organizations for real-time voting analytics as well, so if you're a numbers junkie, be sure to check out the Foursquare blog. [Engadget]

FOURSQUARE VERSION 2 LAUNCHING

Foursquare has announced the launch of version 2.0 of their service/app.  Some of what they are promoting are current things Foursquare does, but in a more easily accessible way.  Tips and To-Dos are two of these things.  Tips will allow users to leave tips when they check-in.  To-Do is a list of places to visit.  Along with To-Do, Foursquare is launching a set of "Add to My Foursquare" buttons websites can place in their articles and readers can click on the button and have the place the article is referring to added to their To-Do list. [TechCrunch]