Pew: 4% Of Americans Use Location Services (Oh, And There?s That Facebook Places Thing)

Pew Internet, a think tank that regularly publishes research reports about technology, has a new study out today: it says that 4% of online American adults use location-based services. That may sound like a fairly small number given how much attention services like Foursquare receive ? especially when it's a drop of 1% from Pew's last study in May 2010 ? but that stat is actually probably significantly higher now. You see, Pew had the misfortune of beginning this study August 9 (it ran through September 13). And smack dab in the middle of that was the launch of Facebook Places. Pew's survey question was worded in a way that could have possibly reflected this launch ?�it broadly asks if users have used a service that lets them share their location with friends. But it only mentions Foursquare and Gowalla by name, which doubtless had some impact on responses:

CERADYNE COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY LIFECELL J2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS