Google's move into local deals - the Groupon clone, as some call it - is up and running with travel offers already working their way into the system.
Unveiled last week, coupons from the likes of hotels, activities and other services are now starting to appear on Google Maps this week, concentrated in major city areas in the US.
Search results for hotel-related Google Offers throws up plenty more results, with deals available outside of the US including India, Italy, Thailand and Vietnam.
Clicking on one of the offers sends the user through to to a dedicated page with details about the property or service, including a map, link to the supplier website and printing options.
Why is printing so important? The offer comes in the form of a old school cut out coupon, complete with dotted line. The discount code is also included, presumably for quoting to a call centre or entering in the discount field on the supplier's website.
Here is an example of a hotel deal in San Diego, but doesn't include much information about the offer:
An example of an activity offer:
And this from a hotel in Seattle, complete with multiple and specific offers and descriptions:
The question now will be to what extent travel suppliers will embrace Google Offers. Groupon has made an enormous splash in the local deals marketplace, with Travelzoo also getting in on the act.
But some are unsure over the value of working with such a model in the medium to long term, although some short term benefits around distressed inventory are what many organisations are currently doing.
Of course the entire thing could be just a simple ramping up of the old coupons system from Google, rather than the new Offers system - although the terminology being used could do with some explanation on the site.
The coupons here are non-transactional, meaning that they are more traditional pre-paid vouchers rather than the group and social buy associated with Groupons.
Watch this space...