Google versus Groupon
After talks of Google acquiring Groupon failed to pan out in the fall of last year, coupon site Groupon has skyrocketed not only in popularity, but in funding- their current funding is over $1 billion.
Today, Google has announced that users in New York City, Portland and San Francisco are able to get up to half off at “places you’ll love.”
The video below is Google’s release teaser to get people to ask what “offers” are since Google isn’t quite ready to say yet, but it doesn’t seem to be a huge mystery that Google didn’t get Groupon, so they’re going to go ahead with plans on being the coupon source which could be in the form of pre-paid group buying like Groupon or coupons and special offers like Yelp.
Either way, Google has made its intentions clear- they want in on the coupon craze too and with the likelihood of a consumer running a Google app, they can plop it right in without anyone having to download new apps or adopt any new technology or idea (can you say Google Offers on Google Maps- the map app that probably came built in with your phone?).
Google Offers teaser video:
Ed Kohler
April 21, 2011 at 5:05 pm
This type of service seems like more of a sales business than a technology play. Google has some tremendous reach, but that doesn't guarantee that they're a threat to any companies already playing in this market.