Google has acquired Germany's DailyDeal to boost its local deals Google Offers service overseas. The deal comes as the company prepares to launch Google Wallet.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sept. 19 purchased DailyDeal, a
Berlin-based daily deals Website that competes with Groupon, LivingSocial and
others in Germany.
Launched in December 2009, DailyDeal has 200 employees and
offers local deals of 50 to 90 percent off from restaurants, travel
destinations, entertainment venues and retail outlets in more than 90 cities in
Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States.
Consumers procure local deals much as they do via Groupon
and LivingSocial, paying via debit card, credit card and PayPal. DailyDeal
claims to have sold more than 252,000 vouchers in the first three months of 2011.
Updated: Google confirmed the buy for eWEEK, noting: "As more and more people go online to find the latest, most relevant deals, we're exploring new ways to help consumers get the best local deals out there. The DailyDeal team has an incredible track record in this space, and we look forward to working with them."
DailyDeal confirmed the purchase in a letter on its Website:
"We see great opportunity to better connect
businesses with consumers on a much larger scale, and we have found a team that
shares our vision. That's why we're excited to announce that we've been
acquired by Google!" wrote DailyDeal co-founders (and brothers) Fabian and
Ferry Heilemann.
"By combining our
expertise with the Offers team at Google, we hope to expand our efforts to
provide even greater deals to consumers."
The buy should help Google expand its
Google Offers Groupon clone, which currently toils only in the United States in New York,
San Francisco and a couple dozen other cities overseas.
Offers could use the
extra muscle;
Local deal aggregator
Yipit claimed Offers was getting soundly beaten by Groupon and LivingSocial in
the nascent, but heavily copycatted local deals market.
Offers is expected to serve as the main incentive for
consumers to use
Google Wallet,
the mobile payment service the company is expected to launch Sept. 19
to allow shoppers to pay for goods by tapping their mobile phones at
cash
registers.
DailyDeal isn't the first bid to add punch to Offers.
Google
acquired deals aggregator (and Yipit rival) The DealMap,
loyalty card technology provider Punchd and
digital coupon provider Zave Networks, all to bolster its local commerce
services.
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