<p>Foursquare introduced a mapping feature on Thursday that makes it easier to visualize check-in activity around the world.</p><p>The black-and-white interactive map lets Foursquare users search for any region by Zip code and zoom in to discover the density of check-ins in that area, based on data from the 500 million check-ins on the service. Aside from just being a cool feature, it shows the potential Foursquare has to use its massive amount of data to map out real-world activity and make recommendations to users about where to go next.</p><p>"What makes Foursquare Explore so powerful is that all those check-ins you see aren't just single points they're links between all the other places people have been, too," the company said in a blog post announcing the feature. "We like to think of it as our version of Google PageRank for the real world we're working to understand the billions of invisible connections between places so we can make amazing recommendations."</p><p>Just imagine how effective it would be for the company to target restaurant recommendations to those who have just come from a concert based on where others have enjoyed eating after leaving that venue in the past. If Foursquare can harness all its data into these kind of recommendations, it could prove incredibly useful for attracting advertisers and boosting the company's revenues in the future.</p><p><a href="http://mashable.com/2013/01/18/foursquare-map/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/18/map-of-500m-foursquare-checkins-demonstrates-how-they-built-a-google-pagerank-for-the-real-world/">Map of 500M Foursquare checkins demonstrates how they built a &quot;Google ...</a> (The Next Web)</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/17/foursquares-new-interactive-map-plots-its-evolution-from-local-check-in-site-to-global-utility/">Foursquare&#039;s New Interactive Map Plots Its Evolution From Local Check-In Site ...</a> (TechCrunch)</p><p><a href="http://gizmodo.com/5976943/can-you-guess-what-city-this-is-by-the-foursquare-check+ins">Can You Recognize a City By Its Foursquare Check-Ins?</a> (Gizmodo)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dxzdeWfZjycimRMC7boyUM3kH0wtM&ned=us">14 additional articles.</a></p>