Google’s Local Coupons Go Mobile, But Who’ll Bite?

Google has offered local coupons for a couple years now, but the response has never matched the promise. Neither business owners nor local searchers have embraced coupons as much as many thought they would.

Maybe this will change things? Google has announced the availability of mobile coupons. All new coupons created in the Local Business Center will be mobile-friendly, and local businesses can edit their existing coupons to also be available on mobile phones.

In theory, it sounds promising and logical — shoppers would welcome the chance to use their phones for in-store discounts, right? But there may be some education and training needed to get this to catch on: educating local business owners about the availability of coupons, and training shoppers to stop in the middle of a shopping trip, fire up their phone, search Google for the store they’re in, click on the place page, and then present the coupon. There may still be too much friction for this to change the overall adoption of local coupons.