Foursquare announced this afternoon that they’ve made some enhancements to their specials platform for businesses. Many are a direct result of lessons learned from the Starbucks dollar-off-a-frappucino mayor special. They’re also touting some of the positive results businesses have seen from running specials.

Among the changes:

• Specials will rotate. To prevent users from tuning out the “special nearby” logo when it points to the same special over and over, foursquare will now be rotating through the nearby specials when displaying them to users.
• Special distances will be variable. Instead of using a set radius to determine whether to display a special, foursquare will now choose a radius based on how densely populated the area is. Urban areas will see a smaller radius than rural areas. This keeps users in urban areas from being overexposed to specials and makes it easier for users in rural areas to find them.
• Making staff easier to mark. Foursquare has made venue staff easier to mark and added roles other than manager. This will alleviate one of the most common complaints seen during the Starbucks special: mayors who were also employees (a problem we noted even before the special went live). They’ll also be stressing to companies the importance of marking their staff.
• Working closer with venues to educate employees. Another complaint during the Starbucks special was a lack of knowledge from Starbucks’ baristas who refused to honor the discount since it was presented in such an unconventional format. Foursquare is hoping to provide better documentation to businesses and work with them to better educate their employees about redeeming foursquare specials.

Despite the complaints, foursquare reports that Starbucks checkins rose 50% since starting the special. Nevermind that this roughly coincides with foursquare’s growth rate during the same period. They also touted the success of specials at AJ Bombers and Monique’s Chocolates.

The changes they’ve made are a great start at correcting the complaints seen about the Starbucks special. What will really drive the specials platform forward, though, is when foursquare is able to send you personalized specials based on your checkin history and your friends’.

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