As users of Google Maps already know, Google has had a coupon option available. Business owners can add coupons to their listings through Google’s Local Business Center.

The addition of GoogleCoupons.com to their nameservers, as ably noticed by our chums at ResourceShelf, could be just a step toward making it easier for business types to get to that service. If Google promotes it more, coupons may help its Business Referral program pull in more AdWords customers.

However, the holiday shopping season is approaching fast. Among Google’s many businesses, it operates Checkout, a payment service for online retailers.

GoogleCoupons.com strikes us as something Google would use to help boost Checkout with its existing and new retail clients. They could direct people performing general searches, like for Blu-Ray or HD DVD players, to retailer offers on a GoogleCoupons.com page.

ResourceShelf noted that the domain still shows Google’s agent, MarkMonitor, as the owner of the domain. If and when that shifts to Google, which it had not as of posting time, we would expect to see a new service debut then.

“We’ve partnered with [Entertainment Publications] to provide their coupons with our AskCity search results,” states an announcement on The Ask.com Blog.  “Their coupon books are targeted to each city, which made them an ideal match with us.”  A reality check: it’s not like Ask and Entertainment connected over some great distance; the companies both fall under the larger IAC corporate umbrella.

But now that they’re together, consumers stand to benefit.  “More than 150,000 Entertainment coupons — which offer steep discounts of up to 50%-off and high-value ‘Buy-One-Get-One-Free’ offers — are now available through AskCity,” according to a press release.  “In early October, the companies will offer an additional 150,000 coupons to searchers, offering consumers millions of dollars in savings.”

The one drawback about this arrangement is that the coupons will be accessible through what is described as “a free 14-day no-obligation trial of the Entertainment book service.”  With the implication being that, beyond 14 days, there is an obligation.  Entertainment books typically range in price from $25 to $45, so you’ll need to either need to pony up some cash or choose carefully when to check this out.

Either way, you may find that it’s literally a small price to pay for the feature.  Hat tip to Greg Sterling.

The domains could be part of a marketing push for Google and its advertisers just as the holiday shopping season approaches. If so, we would expect to see a couple of things happen.

Google will have to move quickly to get the fullest effect from such a promotion. We’re more than halfway through September. That may sound early, but it’s only six weeks from the beginning of November, when retailers tend to swap Halloween decorations for Christmas ones.

It makes sense that a coupon effort would be coupled with Google Checkout, the company’s online payment service. Google-backed coupons as part of a merchant promotion would be nicely suited for a merchant’s AdWords campaign.

A coupon effort might also focus on the brick and mortar market, to complement Google’s get-the-word-out campaign with local businesses. Small businesses without an e-commerce site could place coupons with their listings on Google Maps, point people to them with an AdWords listing, and track conversions as people bring in those coupons.

Jobs Gives In…A Little

"I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale," writes Mr. Jobs at the Apple.com blog. "After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions."

Among those conclusions is you can’t just go giving refunds to everybody that paid too much for a product when it first came out.

Nelson Muntz joins Mr. Jobs with a point and a hardy "Ha ha!"

However:

"…we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week."

Will be enough soothe the pain of having to decide between iPhone and a Nintendo Wii? Two months later they coulda nearly had both.

Oh well, it’ll still be fun watching Nokia try to poach Apple customers through Google AdWords.

Buy $30 or more at either CSN Futons, Jockey, Magazines.com, eCost, BestBuyEyeglasses, Starbucks Store, Luggage.com, Backcountry, DogFunk or Sierra Trading Post, enter the coupon code (or in some cases, do nothing) and use Google Checkout, and get 10% off your purchase. Enjoy the back-to-school savings.

(via The Google Blog)

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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

Visit the InsideGoogle blog.

Introducing Coupons With Google Listings

The term ‘strange bedfellows’ comes to mind when considering the news from Google that they are partnering with Valpak on the issue of coupons for the web. Google is as high tech as a firm can get, while Valpak is most readily identified with the centuries-old concept of postal mail.

Valpak has a website where they offer visitors the opportunity to do what they will be able to do on Google Maps: print out a coupon and take it to a brick-and-mortar business.

Google noted in a statement that adding coupons to an existing business listing will be easy to do. After logging in to the Google Local Business Center, an entrepreneur can freely add a coupon to the business listing that appears for the firm on Google Maps.

Users can print out that coupon and bring it to the business. This provides some measurement of the online listing on Google Maps. By making it free for businesses, Google likely hopes that a modest return from coupons can bring a company into search advertising.

A poorly-designed coupon, like any promotion, can be misused to the detriment of a business. Owners need to take care in creating their offers. They have to provide enough value to bring in a customer, but not so much that the coupon’s use quickly overwhelms any possible profit the merchant can make.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

As the co-founder of a U.S. Internet company with operations in China, I understand that politics between China’s Communist leaders and the U.S. government has a strong impact on my business. However, during the next 40 years, the diplomatic approach that the U.S. government takes in working with its Chinese counterpart will need to evolve. Mixing business with politics is not just bad for business; it is bad for international relations. The Chinese government will increasingly see the U.S. government as an unreliable partner that ties trade and business policies to the then-status of U.S.-China relations.

Tsao calls for the U.S. to tackle the Chinese government by way of its trade practices rather than political lobbying.

Thanks to Erin for the link!

Andy Beal is an internet marketing consultant and considered one of the world’s most respected and interactive search engine marketing experts. Andy has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies such as Motorola, CitiFinancial, Lowes, Alaska Air, DeWALT, NBC and Experian.

You can read his internet marketing blog at Marketing Pilgrim and reach him at andy.beal@gmail.com.