As an early adopter and enthusiast of check-in services i have mixed feelings about the latest move from Yelp to include offers. It seems like a must-have from their perspective given the attention, Facebook, Foursquare, SCVNGR and anyone else enabling check-ins seems to be doing. I hope as the noise floor rises through all these services we retain some actual form of social connection beyond deal finding … You know like the initial purpose for social connection and conversation. I’m all for saving money, but I’m not looking to be a deal pimp for anyone either …
The attention to daily, local and flash deals is quickly becoming noise and as everyone races to ante up their table stake, its also boring given the considerable partity. The services guys still need to focus on experience and not be distracted by simply helping me get my 10th cup of coffee free – especially when everyone has the same deal. While I’m sure someone is crunching numbers to show growth in coupons, deals and discounts … Coupons.com announced a $1Billion for this year … This can’t possibly be what the mobile social evolves to become. Im already deleting the daily deal emails … Next step is to unsubscribe, but first i need to check in at the train.