Deal of the Day: LivingSocial to Distribute Local Bargains on Examiner.com
Yahoo Local doesn’t have it. CitySearch doesn’t. Patch.com? Nope. Seems Examiner.com is the first “local service” striking a deal to distribute LivingSocial’s popular group-buying deals.
Announced today, LivingSocial will distribute it’s up to 90%-discounted deals to 130 of Examiner.com’s network of 240 local markets.
“Our readers come to Examiner.com to connect with what they are passionate about,” said Rick Blair, CEO of Examiner.com. “Now they also have access to discounts that let them experience more of what they love doing in their communities.”
The companies said the deals will be accessible through a “mix of feeds and local media placements, in addition to easily accessible local promotions across Examiner.com’s network.”
LivingSocial will also be the headlining daily deal company in Examiner.com’s upcoming “Insider Deal” marketplace, an online discount center available to Examiner.com visitors.
So why LivingSocial and not Groupon?
“Groupon has a great system, but we were attracted to LivingSocial’s commitment to surfacing deals that truly aligned with each market’s personality and needs — that got our attention early on,” said Blair. “Their strong and calculated expansion was also very appealing. But probably the most important was that they understood our business and the value of our contributors.”
Blair noted his 70,000 Examiners (writers / reviewers) are the “trusted local source for information within their cities, and LivingSocial understood the complimentary crossover in our business models.”
Groupon pushes several offers per city per day, and sometimes offers that really resonate with the local audience will get lost or overshadowed by others. Our Examiners are in town and in tune with their communities, and will be key in promoting and surfacing LivingSocial’s best and most locally relevant offers to the top
~ Rick Blair, CEO of Examiner.com
“Groupon pushes several offers per city per day, and sometimes offers that really resonate with the local audience will get lost or overshadowed by others,” said Blair. “Our Examiners are in town and in tune with their communities, and will be key in promoting and surfacing LivingSocial’s best and most locally relevant offers to the top.”
Blair went on to add color to a coming advertorial program called “Insider Deal Page” that will launch in March on Examiner, where editorial content will support and promote every offer.
“We are excited by the opportunity to engage the Examiner.com community with the same great deals that are available through LivingSocial,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. “As users enjoy interacting within their local communities, they can take advantage of outstanding deals on all the services and experiences LivingSocial offers in their area — from restaurants and spas, to travel and outdoor adventure.”
Two CEOs – Blair and O’Shaughnessy – share roots in AOL, though perhaps a generation apart (sorry Rick). Blair was one of the founding folks behind local online – See more here.
Examiner.com has grown to surprising size with 25.2 million uniques in January. For a little context The Huffington Post – which Aol just bought for over $300 million – counts roughly the same number of visitors.
One of my complaints about most of the daily deal guys is their lack of reach beyond cities and peripheral suburbs. Blair felt that was becoming less of an issue:
“LivingSocial is expanding at a remarkable pace, but also expanding the right way, making sure the product is relevant and ready in each market,” said Blair. “…we believe that deals will soon be available in the majority of our other markets as well.”
Also worth noting LivingSocial released iPhone, iPad and Android apps recently, just after Groupon made available an app for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms.
Terms of the deal were not available given both companies are private.
This post originally appeared on Locl.ly.