By JESSICA E. LESSIN And SPENCER E. ANTE
Apple Inc. is in early discussions to integrate local data from Foursquare Labs Inc. into its mapping application, according to people familiar with the talks, as the company continues to build an arsenal of local data to try to take on Google Inc.
The talks, which took place in recent weeks and involve Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue, are the latest sign of Apple's plans to more tightly integrate local services into the iPhone and iPad. The discussions with New York-based Foursquare come as Apple has been talking to a number of companies that collect local data to improve its new mapping product. The maps service, released in September, has had a rocky reception and faces fierce competition from Google.
Foursquare develops a popular mobile app that helps people find local places and tells their friends when they are at venues like bars and restaurants. It has also amassed business listings, and collects data about the relative popularity of places as well as user-generated tips about them that could help Apple's mapping service stand out.
The talks with such local-data providers represent a strategic shift for Apple. The iPhone-maker for years relied on Google data for the iPhone's mapping app, which would show users a nearby bank or bar. But Apple has been building up its own local search listings to incorporate into products like Maps and Siri. Apple views such services as increasingly strategic as it looks to get users to local information more directly, bypassing search services like Google.
Apple is already joining with Yelp Inc. and other data providers for local reviews and listings. Apple said this summer that it had collected more than 100 million business listings around the world.
Before he died last year, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told at least one associate that he thought Apple could compete head-on with Google in local search, according to the person he spoke to.
Both maps and Siri, Apple's voice-activated virtual assistant which also yields local results, have had tough beginnings. After launching Apple Maps this fall, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook publicly apologized for the quality of the product amid a wave of consumer complaints about inaccurate data that sent people to the wrong place. Siri still gets mixed reviews.
An Apple deal could be a boost for Foursquare, which was one of the first mobile apps to popularize checking into locations from a mobile phone.
But the four-year-old company's growth rate has slowed as other services like Facebook Inc. have launched similar features. Foursquare's business hasn't grown as fast as some investors had hoped. The company claims more than 25 million registered users, but only about eight million of them use the app at least once a month.
The startup has been trying to morph from a social service that lets people "check in" to locations to a local recommendation service. Foursquare recently redesigned its website to let non-registered Foursquare members search for information about places. This July, Foursquare cut a deal with Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine to add Foursquare tips to its search results.
Speculation about a possible deal between the two companies heated up last week after Mr. Cue reportedly posted a check-in on the service to Twitter.
A version of this article appeared December 17, 2012, on page B3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Apple, Foursquare in Early Talks on Partnership.
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