Facebook swoops into coupon discounts with deals in five US cities
A Facebook version of discount coupon sites like Groupon and LivingSocial has been launched in five American cities. Facebook "Deals" will offer users money off everything from concerts to kayaking .
The service is limited to San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas and Austin at the moment, but Facebook hopes to expand the discount coupon service to other cities if this trial is successful.
The current leader in the discount coupon field, Groupon, with 70 million members, rejected a $6 billion takeover offer from Google last December. Facebook has more than 600 million users and if it opens up "Deals" worldwide, has the potential to dwarf Groupon.
The online discount coupon industry is one of the fastest-growing business sectors in the world. Some sites offer better deals if friends buy in. Others require a minimum number of purchases before a deal becomes available. However, many discount coupon offers have no strings attached.