Monday, August 01, 2011

Can't Buy Them? Then Beat Them.

It was announced today that Google has acquired "The Dealmap", a startup launched last year that aggregates daily deals by local markets. The Dealmap currently has over 2 million users who login via the web or mobile apps in order to find deals in their area. The purchase comes on the heels of Google's failed $6 billion bid for Groupon last December and the subsequent creation of "Google Offers".

What will Google get from this deal? They are most likely hoping the acquisition will boost their efforts to tap the local daily deals market and compete with the current market leader, Groupon. Considering that Google Offers is currently available in only 5 cities and The Dealpmap has access to deals in multiple cities across 45 states, the acquisition should help them in their quest to be number one in the daily deals space. How exactly will Google integrate this service with their exisiting Google Offers service? And will the acquisition tie in with the launch of Google Wallet? I guess we will have to wait and see.

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