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Facebook Going Full Groupon

Moving further into the realm of ecommerce, Facebook plans to test a Groupon-like daily deal service in several U.S. cities, Bloomberg reports. Part of Facebook's existing Deals program, which lets businesses offer specials to users, debut cities include San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin. Bloomberg describes the move as "an effort to use its 500 million-plus members to capitalize on the surging online-deal market."

According to Bloomberg, Facebook's staff will work directly with businesses to highlight deals, and encourage users to share them with friends. "Local businesses will be able to sign up to use this feature soon, and people will be able to find Deals in the coming weeks," Facebook said in the statement.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the daily deal industry has emerged as a driving force for online and cross-channel commerce. And, while it's no guarantee that the business will come naturally to Facebook, its massive presence and countless social connections make it an instant player in the group-buying field.

Read the whole story at Bloomberg »

1 comment about "Facebook Going Full Groupon".
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  1. Nicholas Theodore from Self-Employed, March 14, 2011 at 12:49 p.m.

    Maybe Groupon should have taken Google's money and ran.
    But, greed and stupidity most always trump logic and due diligence in the dotcom game.

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