"Facebook plus Groupon?" ReadWriteWeb asks. "Considering how much profile and social data a Facebook Places check-in can carry as a payload, this
sounds a whole lot more valuable to retailers than a Groupon deal. This is very different than the kind of Places-powered hyperlocal advertising that most observers were expecting to monetize the
Places feature."
Not so , says SocialBeat. "It certainly wouldn't be a huge surprise if Facebook announced a deals service."
"Deals could be a new revenue stream for
Facebook, depending on how companies are charged for running promotions and whether it can prevent abuse," writes
Inside Facebook. "The rewards system could also create the need for companies which help businesses manage their Deals. As more details become available, we'll provide news,
walk-throughs, and reactions from the ecosystem."
"What is unusual is how Facebook is reportedly structuring these deals," Social Beat adds. "Instead of
rewarding customers for visiting a store multiple times, businesses are supposed to give them deals if they tag a certain number of other people at the same location. So the idea is to encourage
people to bring friends to a location, rather than to become a repeat visitor"
Meanwhile, "Foursquare says retailers like the detailed analytics that it provides retailers,
but Foursquare doesn't have nearly the same level of profile detail on its users as Facebook does," adds ReadWriteWeb. "Almost no company does. Would you share selected parts of your
Facebook profile with the local brewery in exchange for a free round of beer? Many of us will."
If you read to the bottom of the story at All Facebook there is some concern about validity of the e-mail they use as a source since terminology is not the same as Facebook normally uses (Update 2).
Of course, Facebook denies everything so it remains to be seen just how real this is.
Facebook would be crazy not to try, but it won't be a Groupon killer. Contrary to what many 'experts' seem to think, Facebook is not the Internet. There are many people who are not or will not be on Facebook but will respond to Groupon.
On the contrary, if Groupon built micro communities that supported various interests where people could get their Group on for related topic, it could probably develop a pretty sizable set of inter-related properties. We'll call it NingOn and Worf can run it.
Facebook puts me to sleep. Fact is 4 of 5 US consumers are not logging into Facebook today. That is 100% true.
Do the math: 200 mil log into Facebook each day. 70% are non-US = 60mil people out of 250m + consumer. Of those 60mil 35-40mil are doing nothing except reading or playing farmville. All this info comes from the Facebook Stats Page.
For every 2 log ins on Facebook they only record 1 action (which is either a status update, comment, clicking Like, or becoming a fan).
I am more interested in seeing Facebook or Twitter buy mobile loyalty card technology CardStar or KeyRing. It would be very interesting to align in-store check-ins with what the consumer actually purchased. The opportunites that would come from it would be huge...social based recommendations, personalized coupons upon check, etc...