MerchantCircle has released the following infographic looking at where local merchants are spending their marketing dollars:
As you can see, this is more evidence of the rise of Facebook ads.
A report came out this week indicating that Facebook is getting ready to get into mobile ads. It’s a little surprising they haven’t already done so, but the big IPO is expected to be just around the corner, so that should be another big money maker for the social networking giant.
In terms of group deals, it’s worth noting that more businesses surveyed intend to use Google Offers than Groupon in the future. I’d say there are two main reasons why it is in last place for those people have used right now. For one, it’s still fairly new. For two, it’s not available in a whole lot of markets yet, though it is rapidly expanding.
It’s a pretty good sign for Google Offers that it is so close to LivingSocial in the chart. It’s really interesting to see that nearly twice as many people are using “other” as Groupon, though it makes sense, with all of the local-based and vertical-based deals offerings out there.