Google Offers app now available on iPhone
Today we're announcing the new Google Offers app for iPhone. Now, iPhone users can discover, buy and redeem Google Offers, as well as deals from our partners, on-the-go. Some of the features of the new Google Offers app for iPhone include:
Context & Ripple Effects
Google's local-deals push has been building in stages: after quietly rolling out free Google Offers across the U.S. in May 2012 — a move TechCrunch framed as a Groupon Now rival — the company is now putting a native client on Apple's platform. It is not Google's first commerce app on iOS either; Google Shopper arrived on iPhone in early 2011 and gained nearby-deal discovery that summer.
First-order effects
- iPhone users can now discover, buy and redeem Google Offers plus partner deals on the go, closing the loop between seeing a deal and using it at the merchant without a desktop or Android device.
Second-order effects
- Dedicated daily-deal players like Groupon lose exclusivity over the iPhone deal-hunting audience, since Google now distributes competing offers through its own app on their strongest platform.
- Local merchants gain a second large-platform redemption channel, which pressures deal-marketplace commissions as Google bundles offers alongside search and shopping intent.
Third-order effects
- If Google keeps porting its commerce services onto iOS — as it did with Shopper before this — deal discovery trends toward being a feature of platform-level apps rather than the moat of standalone deal companies.
The trend: Google is treating iOS as a first-class distribution surface for its commerce products, extending its reach into local deals on the rival mobile platform.