14 DAY TRIAL // Despite some serious fatigue from users and businesses alike, it seems that neither check-ins nor daily deals are quite done for. In fact, Google is getting ready to launch something that marries the two.
You will soon be able to check into a location on Google+ and be eligible for a discount. If this sounds more than vaguely familiar, it's because it is. Google's been doing it in various forms, Facebook does it, several startups do it.
Still, it can't hurt to try, Google must be thinking to itself. And, since it's working on making Google Offers a serious contender in anything having to do with either daily or local deals, it makes sense to explore all options.
Google has confirmed that the feature is coming, but it wasn't exactly an announcement. A help page for the new feature was published ahead of time and people got wind of it. By the time Google took it down, the news got out.
"While prepping for a test of a new check-in offer feature, we published a support center article a little early and have since removed the article. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. Please stay tuned for roll out of this feature for merchants, which we’re targeting for next week," Google explained.
The help page was intended for businesses wanting to set up check-in offers. These check-ins were related to Google+ and not to previous Google products like Google Places or Latitude.
"If your customers have to visit your locations in order to do business with you, you can request that they check-in on Google+ in order to redeem your offers," the help page explained.
Check-ins have been available in Google+ so far, but they are now getting linked to offers. Users can choose to make the check-ins public or only share them with a few friends.