Facebook Launches Group-Buying Platform

Online, April 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - On Tuesday, the social media giant launched "Deals on Facebook", a new group buying feature which allows people to buy deals they can then share with their network of friends online.

On Tuesday, the social media giant launched "Deals on Facebook", a new group buying feature which allows people to buy deals they can then share with their network of friends online.

Currently, Deals on Facebook is only available in five cities: Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego, and San Francisco. Facebook is planning to release the service in other cities in the near future. In areas where it is not yet offered, Facebook allows people to sign up to get an email notification when deals become available in their area.

The new platform differs from Facebook's previously launched Check-In-Deals, which requires users to check in from their GPS-enabled mobile device to get certain discounts and specials. That service offers a bit more of an immediate perk - it is available only to clients who are already at the business' location.

Deals on Facebook will let consumers plan a little further in advance, and typically offers bigger discounts on everything from dinners to vacations and ticketed events. In addition, any deal purchased or even "liked" will show up in the news feed for all of a person's friends to see, making it easy for a deal to go viral. Based on the successes of Groupon and other similar models combined with the unparalleled size of Facebook's audience, this new service is likely to take off quickly.

Travis Harrup is Director of Operations and Managing Partner at Social Starfish, a San Diego based social media company. Find out more at socialstarfish.com