Google Offers Google’s challenge to sites that offer popular local discounts like Groupon and LivingSocial is getting some fresh new improvements in February 2014 with its newest Google Maps 7.6 Android update. Google Offers has been accessible through Google Maps since October of 2013 and is intended to allow local businesses to promote some of their specials and discounts to increase sales and highlight their business. Previously, Google Maps displayed these features on a Places feed when users looked up a business’s location. It was a very basic model that still required much of the work of obtaining an offer to occur either through the Google Offers website or in the Google Offers application.
In this newest Google Maps update, Google places a great deal of focus on redesigning the appearance of some of the Google Offers features within the app. The first noticeable difference in the new update is the redesign of some of the icons and the overall appearance of the select Offers features. Google Maps has added a section to view offers that are still active as well as a completely separate section to view any specific offer that has previously expired. In addition, users can now filter out active offers displayed in Google Maps to find something they are looking for without having to scroll. A specific offer can be found through a search by sorting out the location by business, business name, or by entering in a certain date when the offer first started or is set to expire.
Google Maps does not allow businesses to spam or advertise with offers when users go to look at the map, which helps to avoid irritating popups that would ruin the smooth interface. Instead, it lets users determine if they are interested in finding offers near their location and makes it possible to search for offers that may interest them. These Offers can be saved directly to the Google Maps application and can be brought up to use at a later time. Another great thing about this updated service is that unlike services such as Groupon and LivingSocial, this feature of Google Maps and its coordination with Offers does not force prepayment for anything prior to acquiring or going to use a certain offer. Offers work much like coupons or special savings and Google Maps incorporation of these features acts as a platform to easily find offers nearby for those who are on the go or simply want to find quick savings.
