Google is preparing to add a Google Offers-like feature to its struggling social network Google+, blogger Mike Blumenthal has uncovered. The documentation, now removed, quotes the company as saying that merchants will soon be able to enter details of special offers they want to make available to Google+ users who “check in” somewhere nearby. The documentation did not specify if the offer was being made via Google Places, but did not appear to be using Latitude, its previous location system.
The offers would be on par with the sort offered by Foursquare and other such check-in web services, which utilize the geolocation data on a users’ mobile device to allow them to announce that they are at a particular place or business. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is a prodigious user of Foursquare, often letting followers know where he is (currently in New York) and what businesses he is visiting (Woz seems to favor Outback Steakhouse as a favorite place to eat).
With the Latitude service now largely made redundant, and Google’s Shopper app for iOS and Android recently updated to further use special offers, it appears that the company will use its Places technology to leverage offers that will eventually appear on Google+. The option for businesses to bring special offers to Google+ is not yet live, but the template for it is seen in the picture below as it appears on Google Places.
