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Groupon next on Google’s acquistion list?

August 16, 2012 | Online Travel

Google wants to dominate the local e-commerce market. Recent aquisitions like Zagat and Frommer's support this strategy. The next step would be to integrate everything with Google Offers - or Groupon, which currently is worth nearly half what Google offered to buy it for late last year.

Google has already integrated Zagat into Google+, but there are other aspects to consider. One is integrating both Zagat and Frommer into Google Maps that would allow people to a more integrated and visual travel/tourism search experience be it in planning mode at the desktop or walking down the street using a smartphone.

This could be a strategic differentiator the service compared to Yahoo, Microsoft’s Bing and Apple soon to be released mapping service. While those mapping services will show landmarks, museums and nearby restaurants, imagine being able to get hover while scrolling and getting an aggregated user generated review in a pop-up box for each. Pretty cool.

The next step would be to integrate the above with Google’s Google Offers, which is the company’s deal-of-the-day website, and this in turn would drive people to Google Checkout or even allow them to redeem and pay with Google Wallet. Pretty slick.

Get the full story at Forbes

Read also "Is it time for Google to buy Groupon? (Investore Place)", and "What does it mean if Groupon is indeed the largest mobile commerce company? (All Things Digital)"

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