Almost every time I am using Foursquare mobile app I get so confused about the sort order in the list of their suggested venues. Here is a perfect example:
Listen, Foursquare, when I search for a venue around my area, I want them to be sorted by the distance, not by who paid you more some mysterious parameters. After the first “wave” of frustration, I tried to understand what were the reasons why Tim Hortons, which is twice as far as Blenz Coffee, goes first. Maybe, its rating? No. Tim Hortons has 6.8 (not even green), Blenz – 7.6. Number of my friends who have been there? No. Timmys – 3, Blenz – 5. What else could it be? Even if I start comparing the companies sizes and their annual profits, Tim Horton should go before Bean Around The World. Frustration at its best. What’s wrong with you, Foursquare? If Timmys pay you so good, so you decide to frustrate your users, then at least mark it as “Promoted”, “Suggested”, etc. Look at Twitter and Facebook, they have advertisers, but at least they make it clear (they are still annoying though =).
PS This example is not that bad, as the fluctuation is not that extreme, sometimes the nearest place is several scrolls down the list.