When daily-deal market leader Groupon first elbowed its way onto the national stage, it didn't take an industry analyst's eye to see the high-flying startup's most daunting challenge: Anyone can do what Groupon does.
The latest anyones to believe themselves up to the task are AT&T and Buzzblog.
Bloomberg reported yesterday:
AT&T Inc., aiming to tap the billion- dollar market for online coupons dominated by Groupon Inc., will introduce its own discount site in about a month in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth.
The site, on its yellowpages.com subsidiary, is sweetening the deal for consumers who register with a $10 credit beginning today, said Dawn Benton, an AT&T spokeswoman.
Here's where those of you who live in those cities can sign up ... and claim your $10 credit!
In addition to a horde of new and established sites dedicated exclusively to daily deals, AT&T's entry will represent another household name in a field that includes Google, Facebook and The New York Times.
In addition to AT&T, Buzzblog this morning announced that it, too, will be entering the daily-deal fray. Buzzblog has yet to formulate a business plan or solicit funding, according to a source close to the blog.
As for the details of AT&T's initiative, there are not a whole lot available at the moment. From a Wall Street Journal post:
An AT&T spokeswoman said the carrier has a $1 billion local-advertising business, but wouldn't expand on how AT&T's product would differ from those offered by competitors like Living Social and Groupon.
Let me tell you how it will differ: not very much. Here's the FAQ page for AT&T's fledgling service. If you have used Groupon there is no need to read it.
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