Without Groupon or one of its daily deal clones in toe, Google still seems intent on entering the lucrative social buying space.
"When you look at our overall suite of services,
especially around our advertising, we already have some things that are like [Groupon]," Marissa Mayer, Google VP of consumer products,
tells MediaBistro.
"We have things like coupons and offer-extension ads that allow
merchants to basically make offers to our users," Mayer adds. "And, so we're looking at how can we take that technology and put it to use especially in the location space."
Also of
note, while not explicitly acknowledging Google's attempt to acquire Groupon late last year, Mayer challenged the idea that the deal would have somehow devalued Groupon.
"I think that
we have both a good structure for companies that get integrated into Google," she says, "and we also have a new construct called an autonomous unit where we basically will buy a company and leave it
very independent."
Long a key figure at Google, Mayer recently transitioned from search to a focus on Google Maps, local products and mobile products, and the development of "contextual
discovery," i.e., using a consumers' location and context to help them find relevant content and listings.
The obvious question is "Can Google compete with Groupon in this space at all?" wonders Marketing
Pilgrim, which, for its part, "wouldn't underplay any drive that might have been created within Google after they were publically spurned by Groupon. What better way to say 'I told you so' then by
doing it better themselves and taking 50% off of Groupon's value?"
As such, "Groupon CEO Andrew Mason should be nervously pacing circles in his Chicago offices," writes The Wall Street Journal. "Google may have just the right mix of cash, relationships with businesses,
consumer loyalty and revenge motivation needed to out-Groupon the original."
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