Small Business Trends: Google Preparing To Launch Online Coupon Service
Google Offers will work very similarly to Groupon and LivingSocial, with business members identifying items or services to be discounted and Google preparing the ad and offering it to consumers at the website. If enough buy in, the deal goes through.
“There was a time when online coupons were presumed dead. However, in 2011 they’re cool again, having established themselves as a trusted friend of local retailers and an ally in helping them attract customers online and in store. In 2010, coupons were named one of the five can’t miss mobile marketing trends and their popularity was further enhanced by both social coupon sites like Groupon. If you’re not familiar with Groupon, the site offers city-specific daily deals and last month received a $6 billion marriage proposal from Google. Groupon, however, declined–so Google did what any jilted suitor would do – they found an alternative by creating their own social couponing site. And here we are.
Mashable broke the news last week that the Google was quietly in the process of testing Google Offers, a “new product to help potential customers and clientele find great deals in their area through a daily e-mail,” according to the Offers fact sheet. Mashable was kind enough to put the entire Offers Fact Sheet up on Scribd, so you can take a look at it for yourself.”