Mountain View, California — Rebuffed by daily-deal site Groupon, Google this week officially commenced a beta test of its daily-deals service for delivering users hugely discounted offers for local businesses, allowing users in New York City, the Bay Area and Portland to sign up for upcoming deals.
The Google Offers deals service, rival to daily-deal services such as Groupon and LivingSocial was first revealed in January, comes several months after Google failed to acquire Groupon for more than $5 billion.
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The company has unleashed a splash screen prompting users to sign up began showing up Thursday, where it provides discounts up to 50 percent off at various retailers, according to the sign-up site.
Google confirmed that Google Offers is now official.
“Today we launched a marketing campaign inviting Portlanders to sign up for a test of Google Offers — to get great deals delivered right to their inboxes,” a company spokeswoman said by e-mail. “Offers is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new services that give consumers great deals while helping connect businesses with customers in new ways.”
However, people can sign up to receive notifications for forthcoming Offers in uptown, downtown, and midtown New York City, San Francisco, Oakland/East Bay, and Portland.
“Dear PDX friends, Google Offers is now released as beta in YOUR city. Sign up!” Google’s Chris Messina tweeted today. In another tweet, he clarified that only the sign-up option is live at the moment; offers will come later, starting in Portland and then moving to New York and the Bay Area.
Google disclosed few details about what type of deals it will be offering. But, according to the Help page, which describes the service is technically in beta testing and will be rolled out first in Portland, Ore. before expanding to the New York and San Francisco areas.
“Google Offers is a new product that helps potential customers and clientele find great deals in their area through a daily email,” the fact sheet read. Google Offers will likely offer daily deals — pay $25 for $50 worth of food at a nearby restaurant, for example — that are activated once enough people buy into the offer. According to Mashable, the service will operate via Google Checkout and include social-media-networking options via Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, and email.
A video for Offers (below) indicates that it will deliver the gamut from food and clothing to spa treatments and outings; much like competing services from Groupon, LivingSocial, and others.
As for the timing, the Offers help page says: “We are working hard to get Google Offers up and running in Portland,” that the emails will start arriving “soon,” and that it will add other cities in “the near future.”
“It is coming. The possibilities are mind-boggling,” the video says.
The move comes after Google reportedly attempted unsuccessfully to acquire Groupon last year. The Groupon price tag apparently reached almost $6 billion before talks fell apart in December. Meanwhile, Groupon is planning a public offering of its shares later this year, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The IPO is expected to value the Chicago company at between $15 billion and $20 billion.
Interestingly, the teaser video below does not answer many questions about the program, but it at least features a catchy tune:
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