Google Offer Business Help Files

The help files for Google Offers have also been expanded to now include actual details about the program. I have abstracted some of the highlights:

Participation Requirements

  • To participate in Google Offers, you … should be financially stable, and must have positive customer reviews.

Concerns about meeting demand

Google will pay you 80% of your share 4 days after your offer purchase period ends.

Changing scheduled dates and canceling live offers

Once an offer is scheduled, there is very little flexibility to make changes to your start date

Once an offer is live, you won’t be able to cancel or make changes to the details, copy or terms

Offers selection and scheduling

How you’re notified if your offer is selected

In most cases, you’ll be notified at least 5 days before your offer is scheduled to run. In rare circumstances, we may choose to run your offer a few days earlier. The offer will have been approved by you beforehand, so the only difference would be that the offer is advertised 2 days earlier than scheduled. We’ll notify you if this is to happen.

We have an Editorial team that will help create the copy and any creative materials associated with your offer, with information that you provide. You will be able to review the offer and must give your final approval before it goes live for sale.


Creating and customizing Google Offers

Offer customization

You can customize many aspects of a Google Offer for your business. Here are just a few of the elements you can specify for your offer:

Number of offers a customer can purchase
Offer redemption period
Amount of discount on the offer
Store locations where the offer may be redeemed

Payments and refunds for Google Offers

Receiving payments for your offer sales

We will help you set up a special account with us, where you will enter your bank account information. Google will automatically initiate proper payouts per terms you’ve agreed to. Once a payment has been initiated, your bank may take up to three additional business days to register the payout in your bank account.

Payout schedules

Generally speaking, you’ll receive a payout for 80% of your sales approximately 4 days after your offer runs, minus any refund requests that have been processed. Google will hold the remaining 20% for a specified number of days to cover any refunds that may be processed during that period.

Refunds for Google Offers

Customers may request a refund from Google for an unused offer within 60 days of purchase for any reason. After 60 days, Google issues refunds in accordance with applicable local law and/or at our discretion. Refunds may be deducted from your account per agreed upon terms.

Offer redemption options

A customer will need to print a paper voucher or show a mobile version of the purchased offer that includes the barcode or redemption code to the business. The redemption code is directly below the barcode on the voucher.

Redemption options

There are three main types of redemption you can utilize in order for your customers to cash in on their purchase.

  1. Redemption via the Google Offers Business Dashboard
    You are able to enter in the redemption codes within your Offers account. To get the codes, you may accept a printed version of the offer or allow your customer to bring up the code on their mobile device. If you don’t enter the codes in individually at the time of purchase, we recommend entering all codes by the end of the day.
  2. Google Offers Toll Free Phone System (not yet available)
    Using a special toll-free number, your customers will be able to enter their redemption code through the phone.
  3. Google Offers Mobile Business Ap
    The merchant redemption app for Android is a simple application that allows you to scan barcodes from a printed offer or from another mobile device’s screen.
    • Sign in to the mobile app with your Google Offers account
    • Select ‘Barcode Scanner’ to scan a barcode or choose ‘Manual Entry’ to manually type in the redemption code
    • The app will confirm whether or not the Offer code is valid
    • Click the button to redeem the Offer*
      *If you ever scan the barcode again or type in the same code, the Offer will no longer be valid

Google Offers Program Policies

The policies note a range of items that can not be promoted via Offers and includes range of products and services such as tobacco, firearms and hacking

Google Wallet: Make your phone your wallet


Today in our New York City office, along with Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint, we gave a demo of Google Wallet, an app that will make your phone your wallet. You’ll be able to tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). We’re field testing Google Wallet now and plan to release it soon.



Google Wallet is a key part of our ongoing effort to improve shopping for both businesses and consumers. It’s aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and loyalty programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce.
Because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will do more than a regular wallet ever could. You’ll be able to store your credit cards, offers, loyalty cards and gift cards, but without the bulk. When you tap to pay, your phone will also automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, even things like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys could be stored in Google Wallet.
At first, Google Wallet will support both Citi MasterCard and a Google Prepaid Card, which you’ll be able to fund with almost any payment card. From the outset, you’ll be able to tap your phone to pay wherever MasterCard PayPass is accepted. Google Wallet will also sync your Google Offers, which you’ll be able to redeem via NFC at participating SingleTap™ merchants, or by showing the barcode as you check out. Many merchants are working to integrate their offers and loyalty programs with Google Wallet.
With Google Wallet, we’re building an open commerce ecosystem, and we’re planning to develop APIs that will enable integration with numerous partners. In the beginning, Google Wallet will be compatible with Nexus S 4G by Google, available on Sprint. Over time, we plan on expanding support to more phones.
To learn more please visit our Google Wallet website at www.google.com/wallet.
This is just the start of what has already been a great adventure towards the future of mobile shopping. We’re incredibly excited and hope you are, too.

Google Confirms Testing a Groupon Like Product – Google Offers

Update: Matt of Yelo.us, a local search marketing firm in NY, notes in his comments below that Google is already actively marketing this product in NY. He points to the Offers landing page where the program is described very briefly and there is a contact form to participate in the beta programs for Google Offers. On the page Google notes: Google Offers makes it easy for you to attract new customers and bring back old ones by enabling you to instantly post discounts and other types of special offers across Google properties.

Google has confirmed a Mashable report that they are testing a Groupon like product. Greg is also reporting on this at SEL.

Google’s statment:

Google is communicating with small businesses to enlist their support and  participation in a test of a pre-paid offers/vouchers program. This  initiative is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new products, such as the recent Offer Ads beta, that connect businesses with  customers in new ways. We do not have more details to share at this time, but will keep you posted.

Mashable is reporting that “that Google will pay out 80% of a business’ revenue share three days after its deal runs. Google will hold the remaining 20% for 60 days to cover refunds before sending the rest” and that it will be powered by Google Checkout.

Google renamed their coupon product to Offers on November 15th, just a mere two weeks prior to their discussions with Groupon becoming public. The purchase of Groupon made sense to me at the time and the development of a deal product now does as well.

Here is a slightly revised chart from that time frame of Google’s free and paid products for Local that shows how a Groupon like Offers product would fit in the mix…

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Type Location Ad Coupon
Free Places Offers
Good Tags Tagged Offers
Better Boost An automated product to compete with the newly announced Groupon Stores
Best Adwords Groupon Like Product with Direct Sales Force

The development of an automated or semi automated deal product at level 3 in the chart above is a no brainer for Google. Developing a deal product for national brands is also within their current institutional knowledge. Where they could very well have trouble is the “feet on the street” in the local markets. And that will be the true test of their ability to compete in the space.

As I noted in early December, unlike Tags and Boost that had restrained upper limits on income, a Deal product could have a virtually unlimited upside for Google if adopted nationally. The market, while starting to get crowded, has two market leaders and there is certainly room at the moment for a third. Whether they will successfully execute and be able to achieve a market leading position is ultimately the question.