Local Search Site Center’d Launches New Engine For Deals

Local search destination Center’d has launched a new site, The DealMap. Its objective is to be a comprehensive engine for local deals and coupons. Beyond a range of sources and partners, it also employs game dynamics to encourage users to identify and upload local deals they find in the “real world” that would otherwise never make online or into formal ads.

Drawing upon group-buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, as well as Foursquare, traditional coupon purveyors such as ValPak and other sources, The DealMap lets users search or browse for deals and offers in different categories and/or receive deals through Twitter, Facebook and email.

Users can search for deals by zip or city. And beyond the US, The DealMap offers coverage in the UK. Mobile applications are coming soon.

The entire deal/coupon space heated up during the recession and has remained very hot. Group buying leader Groupon recently received a $100 million-plus investment at a billion-dollar valuation.

Center’d CEO Jennifer Dulski told me that there were something like 80 or so Groupon-like sites in the market, whose content is being presented at The DealMap, in addition to a range of other sources. There’s a real question about the sustainability and scalability of all these sites. Yet The DealMap may contribute yet more growth to the “local deals” segment because the site is making its content and offers available to publishers and developers through an API.

Ask launched a deals vertical within search last fall. But it doesn’t offer the breadth of local content and functionality that The DealMap does.

There’s more detail and discussion about The DealMap on my personal blog Screenwerk.