<p>And that move by itself as per analysts is enough to make Groupon, a website that is localized to major geographic markets worldwide look nervously over its shoulder and further strengthen Facebook.<br /><br />Facebook Deals "are about to get better with friends" according to a new landing page that aims to promote the social network's answer to Groupon, The social network first announced Facebook Deals last November.<br /><br />It was a feature that enabled local businesses to offer users deals when they go to their Facebook page.<br /><br />However yesterday, Facebook upped the ante.<br />"We're working to make it easier to find fun things to do with your friends and connect with local businesses," Facebook wrote today on its Wall.<br /><br />"We're testing a new Deals feature that brings you offers from nearby businesses, which you can share with your friends," it said.<br /><br />The new feature is currently only available for users in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco.<br /><br />Facebook will be helping businesses send deal offers directly to users, which is what Groupon has made its name doing.<br /><br />"For Facebook, this is smart," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research.<br /><br />"Facebook would like to be users' entry point to the entire Web -- communications, content, game-playing, etc. As long as additions don't obscure the primary experience, and I don't see any reason this would, every addition removes one reason to leave Facebook World, Gottheil added.<br /><br />But this has got to be concerning news for Groupon, the company that quickly rose to online fame as a localized deal-of-the-day Web site.<br /><br />In about the last six months, there has been a lot of excited talk about Groupon, which helps businesses reach directly out to individual customers.<br /><br />Groupon is designed to e-mail users with information about what to do in their cities, along with bargains and sales offers.<br /><br />Facebook has already started promoting its Groupon-like service.<br />The company has pushed a new story with the headline "Deals on Facebook. Now Better With Friends" to the Facebook News Feed.<br /><br />It links to a new Facebook Deals landing page at facebook.com/deals, which says "Coming Soon: Deals Are About to Get Better with Friends" at the top.<br />The goal is to get users to subscribe to updates for Facebook Deals, and to invite their friends to subscribe too.<br /><br />Subscribers will soon get Facebook News Feed updates about nearby promotions.</p>
<p>And that move by itself as per analysts is enough to make Groupon, a website that is localized to major geographic markets worldwide look nervously over its shoulder and further strengthen Facebook.<br /><br />Facebook Deals "are about to get better with friends" according to a new landing page that aims to promote the social network's answer to Groupon, The social network first announced Facebook Deals last November.<br /><br />It was a feature that enabled local businesses to offer users deals when they go to their Facebook page.<br /><br />However yesterday, Facebook upped the ante.<br />"We're working to make it easier to find fun things to do with your friends and connect with local businesses," Facebook wrote today on its Wall.<br /><br />"We're testing a new Deals feature that brings you offers from nearby businesses, which you can share with your friends," it said.<br /><br />The new feature is currently only available for users in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco.<br /><br />Facebook will be helping businesses send deal offers directly to users, which is what Groupon has made its name doing.<br /><br />"For Facebook, this is smart," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research.<br /><br />"Facebook would like to be users' entry point to the entire Web -- communications, content, game-playing, etc. As long as additions don't obscure the primary experience, and I don't see any reason this would, every addition removes one reason to leave Facebook World, Gottheil added.<br /><br />But this has got to be concerning news for Groupon, the company that quickly rose to online fame as a localized deal-of-the-day Web site.<br /><br />In about the last six months, there has been a lot of excited talk about Groupon, which helps businesses reach directly out to individual customers.<br /><br />Groupon is designed to e-mail users with information about what to do in their cities, along with bargains and sales offers.<br /><br />Facebook has already started promoting its Groupon-like service.<br />The company has pushed a new story with the headline "Deals on Facebook. Now Better With Friends" to the Facebook News Feed.<br /><br />It links to a new Facebook Deals landing page at facebook.com/deals, which says "Coming Soon: Deals Are About to Get Better with Friends" at the top.<br />The goal is to get users to subscribe to updates for Facebook Deals, and to invite their friends to subscribe too.<br /><br />Subscribers will soon get Facebook News Feed updates about nearby promotions.</p>