It's a fair point, honestly Lyft or whoever should be doing this themselves. If they just listed competing prices (heck, even link out to the other apps) that would be a strong reason to use their app as your default.

Tangential, but this is exactly what's happened in some parts of the adtech market, it's called "mediation".

> >open multiple apps to compare prices

> that gives me an idea...

...for the ride service fare and time comparison feature in Google Maps?

There was a similar app during the check-in app craze (where a half-dozen competing apps existed) but that didn't stop Foursquare from eventually winning the space (even though it was arguably not the best of the options).

They invented the concept, so far as I was aware, in the form of Dodgeball. Foursquare was just their relaunch of Dodgeball after the failed Google acquisition.

Aw, poor Gowalla.

And loopt, brightkite, whrrl (spelling?) and probably more. And that was just within the "check into a place" category. There were also other categories like checking-in to what you're watching on tv (GetGlue), checking-in to what you're eating (Foodspotting), checking in to what you're drinking (Untappd).

Some of these are still around but most are not. Not sure if the ride-sharing space will turn out the same or not. I feel at least Uber and Lyft are probably safe.

This may be related to my provincial ignorance (I was in Ann Arbor during the check-in boom), but I remember Gowalla being the Lyft to Foursquare's Uber. Of course, there is an actual business model for the ride-sharing companies, so maybe there's room for multiple players.

It's not a great comparison because Gowalla had essentially no competitive advantage, whereas Lyft at least has the chance to have one. Gowalla competed on "better design" for a while but ultimately the network effect of Foursquare mattered far more. Lyft is making headway in some cities so I think they're doing fine.