Google has just confirmed that they are working on a rival to the popular group purchase / coupon site Groupon, only a couple of months after trying (and failing) to buy the site for $6 billion.Called Google Offers, the project was originally leaked by a Mashable tipster and then confirmed as a work-in-progress by Google itself.
Like Groupon, Google offers will allow buyers to partake of a certain deal at a small local business as long as they can get a large enough group together to go in on it with them. The idea is basically to allow smaller businesses to make up in bulk what they lose out in offering the discount to begin with.
According to Google, they intend to plan a test run of the Google Offers system before they launch:
“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 for the split, Google will reportedly pay out 80 percent of a business’ revenue share on a deal within three days of the deal ending, with the remaining 20 percent behind held back for a sixty day period in case they need to make refunds.
Intriguing, but honestly, this is just another example of Google — a company that was once so good about being the biggest innovator in Silicon Valley — raising their hands and shouting “me too!”
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