The Google Offers launch news broke out by Mashable, and it was confirmed by Search Engine land – Google told them:
Google is communicating with small businesses to enlist their support and participation in a test of a pre-paid offers/vouchers program. This initiative is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new products, such as the recent Offer Ads beta, that connect businesses with customers in new ways. We do not have more details to share at this time, but will keep you posted.
As Larry Page took over the void Google CEO position after Eric Schmidt left Google rather unhappily, Google won’t keep the issues lingering.
Failed to acquire Groupon, Google creates Google Offers
Google, despite facing some issues, such as departing engineers to Facebook and other smaller companies and China censorship troubles, is indeed resourceful; After Google failed to acquire Groupon – their $6 billion bid was refused – they decided to create a competitor to it, instead.
A Google revenge? Highly probable, in my opinion.
The leaked Google Offers fact sheet
Here’s the leaked Google Offers (please notice the “Confidential” remark on the document):
Very, very interesting, indeed – and very, very similar to what Groupon has got to offer: Daily deal offers.
Will Groupon sorry toward their decision not to sell to Google?
Hell, no! No matter how I fave Google, I’ll say that Groupon will thrive; Google Offers is not a Groupon killer.
Google is a huge business with great reach online. But that doesn’t mean that Google has Midas’ touch that can turn everything into gold. Google has launched or acquired services that are pretty much a failure, or at least stuck in mediocrity.
Groupon, on the other hand, has every reason to keep their dominance in the deal offering business. Failed with the acquisition talk, they plan to go public this year. “Stealing” market share from Groupon would not be that easy, especially facing consumers that are “allergic” toward everything big corps – including Google, who want to dominate the web.
As a consumer, I am a happy camper; more deal sites mean more offers for me and the rest of us. What’s your view on the plan to launch Google Offers? Please share yours by commenting on this article.
Ivan Widjaya
Google Offers vs. Groupon