14 DAY TRIAL // Gowalla was once a competitor in the rather-crowded and probably over-hyped location-based service space. The top dog was and still is Foursquare, but Gowalla was probably the closest competitor.
Now it's shutting down for good, having been acquired by Facebook a few months back. It's probably not a good sign for the market that it could not sustain even two competitors, but it's probably something that people should have seen coming.
This type of hype cycles are a common thing in Silicon Valley, as soon as someone found something that is even marginally popular, judging by how many people use the product and nothing else, there will be 10 more companies jumping in to do the same thing.
That's true for location-based services, true for photo sharing apps, true for group messaging apps, true for group-buying sites and true for whatever the "next big thing" will be.
And it's actually a good thing, it ensures that there is healthy competition and that only the best companies with the best products survive. Or that no company survives if the idea itself wasn't that good to begin with.
Nothing is ever lost in Silicon Valley, things just get consumed or morph into something else. In Gowalla's case, the company ended up being acquired by Facebook, not for the product but for the people working there.
The site has been shut down and users are directed to get their stuff and leave. "Thank you for going out with Gowalla. It was a pleasure to journey with you around the world. Download your check-ins, photos and lists here soon," the site reads.
The fact that the site will be shut down was announced when the Facebook acquisition was confirmed, so users shouldn't really be surprised. Then again, the lack of users is one of the big reasons why Gowalla was sold off.