Although already on the Foursquare app, Foursquare Explore has just recently rocked the mobile and desktop versions of the fast growing social location sharing site. Along with this new feature that landed on the site last week, Foursquare has also unveiled an even more enticing feature: Menus. Over 250,000 menus have been added to restaurants along with prices, so you know what you are getting into before you head out. While this is still only available on the mobile and desktop versions, it is soon to show up on the mobile app.
Foursquare Explore is a new way to find great places that are close to you. You can search by keyword or browse categories to find the place that best matches what you are looking for. Foursquare lets you decide whether you want to find places that foursquare itself suggests, places your friends have been, places you have not been, places you have already been, or places with Foursquare specials. Not only are you given a list of places to go, you are also given a map that shows the places that are in your vicinity. You can read the comments, see if your friends have been there, and view the pictures add by others.
This is great step forward for the geo-location giant. It's users are able to do so much more than merely check-in to a venue. With the addition of menus, more places will give the user incentive to come to their venue by adding more specials, getting people more involved with their brand. For now, Foursquare does not have a place for sponsored ads, however, this many be a step into the direction of sponsored searches and maps. If you are not using Foursquare for your venue, hopefully this will turn you on to the ever-expanding Foursquare.