By Stephen Schenck | November 3, 2011 11:25 AM
When Google detailed its plans for NFC-based mobile transactions this past Spring, in addition to Google Wallet, the system used for making payments, Google also mentioned something called Offers, designed to help you find local deals. Since then, we’ve seen Offers integrated as a feature within Shopper, but never available as its own app. That changes today, with the release of Google Offers to the Android Market.
Don’t worry about the lack of NFC on your smartphone; since Offers is all about discovering deals, and not about how you end up paying for them, you won’t need a handsets that supports the wireless protocol. Think of this like Groupon; the Offers app searches for retailers who have partnered with Google in the nearby area. Then you’re presented with a breakdown of the available promotions, again emulating Groupon with a preponderance of get-$X-of-product-for-half-that certificates.
Every day, the Offers app will show you the currently-featured deal, and you can have a notification alert you when a new offer in your area is added to the service. When you find one you’re in which you’re interested, you can purchase it with a few taps, and previously-bought offers are all stored in one place, so you don’t spend $10 for $20 of gourmet hamburgers and then forget to redeem it.
Google continues to add new cities and retailers to Offers, so even if you might have passed on the service before, you may want to give it another shot, check out the new app, and see if today’s deals are any more to your liking.
