[Web] The Online Evolution Of Coupon Culture

Every time I read an article on line about "the future of search", the often repeated buzzwords make me chuckle. I'm sure you've encountered something along these lines at one point in time or another. For a while the big push was how the future was about mobile internet services, thus the advent of apps, the iPhone and now the boom of the Android platform. And there are also a large number of industry experts who constantly write about the future of searching being local, meaning more relevant search results based on local businesses in your town or city.


Google Maps Advertisement by psychopyko via Flickr.

Conquering the last stretch of internet real estate between the big online retailers and the average local business has been a challenge that many different internet-oriented companies have been trying to conquer. There's money to be made there after all - a person is still more likely to buy something from a retail outlet closer to home where they can actually view the merchandise as opposed to switching entirely to buying things online from the likes of Amazon or whatever. Whoever can monetize that last mile to the consumer's local market is bound to make a fair amount of money.

Thus enter the current local offerings market, which is a gladiator arena filled with an odd mix of web search engines, social media marketers, location-based services and the growing subsection of the group deal negotiators. And the madness is just beginning as the bigger players are coming out with their bids towards breaking into the market.