Microsoft, like its rival Google, sees dollars in daily discounts. The company today announced Bing Deals, which integrates daily discount information from The Dealmap into its Bing mobile and desktop sites. The idea puts Microsoft into the same game as Groupon and Living Social, something Google tried to get into with a failed purchase of Groupon.
Bing Deals will have more than 200,000 offers in over 14,000 places from The Dealmap, which aggregates coupons from Groupon, Living Social, Restaurant.com and many others. The partnership gives Microsoft another way to lure people into Bing by offering them the chance to find coupons and discounts. Microsoft has tried to drawn in user with incentives in the past including a Bing Cashback program that was eventually discontinued.
Bing Deals will appear as a link on the mobile web version of Bing on iPhone and Android browsers. Users can see the best deals of the day for their metro area and can drill down to better deals in their immediate vicinity. Or they can search by category or keyword. Users can claim their deal directly, save it on their phone or share it online with friends from Bing. From a desktop or mobile browser, users who research a specific business will now see an icon or link alerting them to a deal offered by that business.
This is a first step for Microsoft because the company is looking to integrate the deal information into its search results. But it’s unclear when the Bing Deal integration will come to other platforms outside of Android and iOS and when it will get integrated into its Bing mobile app. But it gives Microsoft a way to dip its toe into the hot local daily deal game, without too much of an investment in terms of time or effort. The question is does Microsoft want to go further with its Dealmap partnership or perhaps look at an acquisition down the road of the company or a competitor. We’ll have to see.
Related GigaOM Pro content (sub req’d):
- Why Google Should Fear the Social Web
- Lessons From Twitter: How to Play Nice With Ecosystem Partners
- What We Can Learn From the Guardian’s Open Platform
