Facebook adds Offers API support

Facebook has added support for creating and managing its Offers feature via its API. The new offering is supposed to be a free way for businesses to share special discounts and promotions directly from a Facebook Page. If you're a developer looking for more information on leveraging Offers, check out Facebook Developers: the /offers connection of the Page object, the Offer object, and the Offer FQL table.

Offers is still in beta: it's available in self-service to a limited set of Facebook Pages in New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Japan, and Turkey. It's not yet available to additional U.S. businesses. Facebook says it plans to launch Offers more widely in the coming weeks.

Two months ago, Facebook announced Offers service, just six months after killing Facebook Deals. Here's how Facebook announced the launch:

Now, you can get discounts from businesses when they post an offer on their Facebook Page. To claim an offer, all you need to do is click Get Offer from the story anywhere you see it on Facebook.

You'll start to see offers by Pages you like in your news feed. After you click Get Offer, Facebook will send you an email that you can print off or show on your mobile phone at the business to redeem your discount.

Offers can be distributed through the News Feed or promoted as Sponsored Stories. People can redeem Offers via e-mail or on a mobile device by clicking the "Get Offer" link. We first heard of Offers late last year, when they were just coupons. In fact, Facebook was actually using the word "coupon" then but ended up changing its language to "offer" instead.

See also:

• Facebook: where does the money come from?
• Facebook announces Offers, mobile ads
• Facebook testing seven ads per webpage
• Facebook starts displaying ads in the News Feed
• Over half of Facebook users respond to social media marketing
• Women more likely than men to click on Facebook ads