Foursquare’s badge system got an upgrade today: a new “trophy case” plus a way for companies to be in the new Partner Badge program.

A Trophy Case For Your Badges

In the new trophy cases, which Foursquare blogged about today, you’re now able to see all your badges plus separate them into groups, one group for Foursquare’s own badges and another from partners:

The screenshot above shows the top of my own trophy case and how all my badges are displayed at once.

Foursquare’s Badges Versus…

If I click on the Foursquare tab, the view changes:

Now I’m shown badges that I earned through various activities that Foursquare has defined.

Partner Badges

Selecting the partners tab changes the view again:

Now I see badges that have been earned in ways that Foursquare partners have defined. Foursquare has worked with a few select partners to create these badges. However, it’s now allowing any company to apply for them, which is good news, in my books.

What Your Friends Have Won

You can drill into any badge to get a screen with more about it, plus at the bottom, you’ll see friends who have won that badge:

But How To Earn Badges?

Unfortunately, how to earn some of these badges still remains a mystery. The Mile High badge, for example, requires you to check in by seeking out an in-flight wireless service as a venue. If you don’t know to do this, you won’t earn the badge. Sometimes badges are earned only if you “shout” certain words as part of your check-in. Again, it’s something you have to know or accidentally discover.

Today’s Foursquare Blog post explains how to earn new partner badges from organizations like the American Red Cross to TV shows like Ellen. The Foursquare Blog in general is also a good place to watch for news on how to earn new badges.

Foursquare doesn’t offer official tips or guidance, though that might change in the future. My Foursquare’s Crowley Can Feel Foursquare Fatigue, Has Plans To Fix It article from last week explains more about this and other topics.

Related Topics: Features: General | Foursquare

About The Author: Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series. He maintains a personal blog called Daggle (and maintains his disclosures page there). He can be found on Facebook, Google + and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan. See more articles by Danny Sullivan

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