Amazon Follows Google into Local-Deals Business

AmazonLocal launched yesterday in Boise a day after Google officially launched its local deals site Google Offers in beta testing in Portland, Oregon. Both sites are take-offs on Groupon, a local-deals site that launched in November 2008. AmazonLocal's page for businesses interested in using the site to offer deals to potential customers states that Amazon customers spend 70% more money online every month than the average Internet user and $55 billion in offline purchases every month. Amazon charges businesses a referral fee for the customers they acquire through the service: "We don't charge for running your promotion on AmazonLocal.