Report: Google Coupons Threatens Newspapers

A NEW GOOGLE PROGRAM THAT allows merchants to create printable coupon pages linked to their Google Maps entry potentially threatens the $1.1 billion that coupon advertisers spend in newspapers, according to a report released Tuesday by Merrill Lynch. But the impact likely won't be felt in the short-term, because the early users of the service will probably be small self-service marketers, predicted the investment house. "We think the near term impact is minimal, but longer term we have some serious concern," stated the report.