• Internet Retailer, Friday, April 15, 2011 11:05 AM

In the next few weeks, Facebook is expected to debut its Deals service in Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco, reports Internet Retailer. "To encourage what it calls social discovery -- that is, one consumer learning about something via Facebook's newsfeed -- Facebook will highlight in the news feed if a consumer clicks that he is interested in purchasing a deal, as well as if he bought a deal."

As Emily White, Facebook's director of local, tells Internet Retailer: "The fact that every step of the process -- from interacting with the deal, booking the deal and experiencing the deal -- is tied to friends makes it more likely that you'll have a positive experience with the business and revisit it again."

The effort directly challenges established deal services like Groupon and LivingSocial. Facebook plans to use its own back-end payments system to handle Deals, while consumers will be able to pay for Deals using Facebook Credits as well as other payment methods.

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