Facebook aims to "give them what they want" -- and by them we mean the 500 million registered users and the United States' most-visited website.
Locally generated deals that consumers can opt into -- things like spa visits, two-for-one brunches and the like -- were the specialty of Chicago-based Groupon as well as LivingSocial, until recently. More and more, regional media companies (including the parent of this site) are getting into the business, trying to leverage their locally focused audience.
And now the audience elephant on the web, Facebook, will test its mettle against the local-deal market by ramping up its existing Deals program. The test markets are San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta and Austin, Texas, according to Bloomberg.com.
Facebook’s program will also let users see discount offers from partner services, including ReachLocal, Gilt City, Tippr, HomeRun.com, PopSugar City, KGB Deals, Plum District and Zozi.
Bloomberg also reports that Facebook is in talks with Skype to offer video calls to its users.
Let the multi-market disruptions continue!
