{"id":2215,"date":"2009-01-20T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2009-01-20T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=2215"},"modified":"2009-01-20T15:48:23","modified_gmt":"2009-01-20T19:48:23","slug":"google-coupons-see-large-decline-in-major-markets-amongst-smbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/20\/google-coupons-see-large-decline-in-major-markets-amongst-smbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Coupons see Large Decline in Major Markets Amongst SMB’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is the old marketing rule of thumb (written of course by marketers) that the time to grab market share is in a down market. The other marketing rule of the thumb is that coupon use goes up in down markets. According to a recent NY Times article\u00a0In Lean Times, Online Coupons Are Catching On<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neither adage could be proven by Google Coupon’s lack luster performance compared to last year. Compared to last March<\/a>, Google Coupons use is down by 31%. Given that the ValPak numbers are roughly the same , one can surmise that self provisioning of coupons by SMB’s in the Local Business Center is the reason for the decline. Given Coupons low visibility and lack of value this is a rational response. Google Coupons is the greatest Google Local idea that has never received the exposure or positioning that they so\u00a0desperately\u00a0need.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Coupon
\nSearch<\/td>\n		Total Coupons for search “City”
\nNov. ’07<\/td>\n		Total for “City
\n+ Valpak” Nov. ’07<\/td>\n		Total Coupons for search “City”
\nMar. ’08<\/td>\n		Total for “City
\n+ Valpak” Mar. ’08<\/td>\n		Total Coupons for search “City”
\n Jan. ’09<\/strong><\/td>\n		Total for “City
\n+ Valpak” Jan. ’09<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New York City<\/td>\n536<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n410<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n631<\/a><\/td>\n268<\/a><\/td>\n527<\/a><\/td>\n332<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Francisco<\/td>\n580<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n200<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n605<\/a><\/td>\n162<\/a><\/td>\n463<\/a><\/td>\n149<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chicago.<\/td>\n519<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n165<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n694<\/a><\/td>\n139<\/a><\/td>\n325<\/a><\/td>\n81<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Olean, NY<\/td>\n12<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n1<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n8<\/a><\/td>\n0<\/a><\/td>\n14<\/a><\/td>\n0<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Totals<\/td>\n1647<\/td>\n776<\/td>\n1938<\/td>\n569<\/td>\n1329<\/strong><\/td>\n562<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

On a related and somewhat ironic note Greg Sterling at Local Mobile noted that \u00a0Top Google Android Engineer Goes to Coupons Inc.,<\/a>\u00a0where Coupons.com is hiring 40 new employees before the end of February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is the old marketing rule of thumb (written of course by marketers) that the time to grab market share is in a down market. The other marketing rule of the thumb is that coupon use goes up in down markets. According to a recent NY Times article\u00a0In Lean Times, Online Coupons Are Catching On. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-coupons","category-google-maps-google-local"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t