The world's search engine giant Google has launched the group buying search service in China, marking its formal entry into the saturated Chinese e-commerce market.
The new service can search and list deals provided by Chinese group buying websites, including Lashou.com, Meituan.com, and 55tuan.com. According to the company, the new service is only a search tool and Google does not assume responsibilities for the group buying contents. The contents and their positions on the web pages are generated in accordance to a computer algorithm. The new service is currently undergoing a testing stage.
At present, there are dozens of major websites in China providing group buying search services, including Jutao.com and Tuan800.com.
On April 21, 2011, Google launched its own group buying service in North America named Offers to compete with Groupon and LivingSocial. In January this year, Yahoo launched its group buying service in collaboration with more than 20 group buying websites.