Some Facebook users headed to a restaurant, museum or other places may notice a new feature pop up today on their smartphones.
Competing with other location-search apps such as Foursquare and Yelp, the new tool called Place Tips shows users information about the places they re visiting.
That includes posts and photos friends have shared about the place, upcoming events, popular menu items and other tips.
It s a move that could help boost the number of people who access Facebook on their cellphones and boost the company s already growing mobile advertising dollars.
Mobile monthly active users on Facebook hit 1.19 billion as of December and mobile advertising made up about 69 percent of the company s fourth-quarter sales.
Facebook officials are testing the feature at certain businesses and places throughout New York such as Central Park and Times Square.
Some smartphone users will have to wait to use the new feature. It s currently only available on the iPhone app and uses cellular networks, Wi-Fi and GPS to pinpoint a user s location.
Photo Credit: Facebook
