Todd Lyden

Maybe it's just me, but this hoopla over Google creating an "Offers" or whatever they calling it alternative to Groupon isn't THAT big of a deal! See more here.

If you have used Google Places, which allows you to pimp out your online Google listing that will appear in maps etc, then you should have seen this some time in the past:

Mind you, if you click through and check out the Scribd listing sheet or the Mashable story above, you'll see that Google has the same idea but probably done slightly better.

Most folks are selling the Google team short saying they are getting into the game too late. This is Google people, who is better at online advertisings? Which is functionally, beyond the sales game of getting the deals, the only thing that makes Groupon stand out.

I spoke before about how easy it would be for ANYONE to get into the local game. Google has a huge advantage. Low cost for the advertising, which is all anyone would need. Plus if they can offer better deals or a better cost to the deal makers, why wouldn't you use them?

This "deal of the day" market is going to be saturated FAST- Groupon might have the lead, but it won't take long for Google and lot of the regional folks to catch up and start eating Groupon's lunch.