ReadWriteWeb

Headed out to do some shopping and looking for a few good deals? Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and their accompanying mobile applications, the ability to access geo-targeted coupons from nearby merchants on your handheld device is easier than ever.

Or is it?

In theory, you should be able to go into any store, launch an app and find a coupon for that business which could then be presented to the cashier. We have the technology - it is possible. In practice, however, this sort of mobilized "discount shopping" experience is still quite a ways off.

One of the more interesting discussions I had with attendees at the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit a few weeks ago was about the future of location-based mobile advertising and why it has so far failed to take off. The speed-bumps we uncovered during that session included the burden of building an ad network and finding unique ways of engaging users, but one other key hurdle that stands in the way is the physical interaction at the point-of-sale.

For an average Joe, one of the short-comings of coupons, and of coupon sites, is the motivation necessary to page through, search, burrow and worry your way through large offerings to find something of use to you. 8coupons is trying to address this concern by marrying its offerings to geolocation.

When I enter my location - Eugene, Oregon - the coupons available for my use populate an interactive local map. I can get a free burrito at Chipotle's, a deal at Walgreen's, a "green phone" for $10 at T-Mobile and a break on Nutri-Dog at Petco.

Once upon a time, smartphones were mostly about connecting busy professionals with their email accounts while on the go. Now that smartphones have reached the mainstream consumer market, however, people are looking for more than just email access - and a surprisingly large number of smartphones hardly ever leave their owners' homes.

According to a new study from Web analytics firm Compete, 74% of smartphone owners now primarily use their devices for personal reasons, and they often spent the most amount of time with the device at home.

Google has announced today that, just in time for holiday shopping, they are enabling local retailers to display coupons for in-store use on mobile devices of Google-searching users.

Any business using Google Local Business Center can upload mobile coupon offers, and any user searching on Google.com using a mobile device can find the coupons on the businesses' Place Pages - a feature that also debuted relatively recently. Altogether, the direction the company is taking seems better for users and for local businesses, as well.

When Heroes actor Greg Grunberg tells you to download an iPhone application, you can't help but listen. Best known as television's mind controlling savant Matt Parkman, Grunberg demoed location-based coupon startup Yowza at today's Under the Radar Mobility Conference. Grunberg's iPhone app offers users deals from nearby stores, restaurants and gyms. Now that Foursquare has begun advertising location-based deals it'll be interesting to see if there will be overlap between the two companies. ReadWriteWeb caught up with Grunberg to find out what's keeping him out of the actor's studio.

If you're a smart shopper (and these days, who isn't?), then you probably check the weekly circular for deals and clip out coupons so you can save at the store. Or maybe your coupons arrive digitally, through emails and text messages. But wouldn't it be better if your phone itself could function as the coupon? That's the promise of MoLo Rewards, a wireless coupon application which lets you scan your phone at the point of sale to instantly redeem all your coupons or loyalty rewards using either Near Field Communication (NFC) or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

Yahoo has just launched Yahoo Deals, a site that offers coupons, deals and shopping related tips in a searchable format. According to the release, "web searches for "printable coupons" on Yahoo! are up 50 percent in 2009, compared to the same time in 2008, and up 135 percent compared to 2007." As mainstream news readers abandon their print subscriptions for online news sources, Yahoo's alternative form of coupon clipping is likely to increase brand loyalty and help families weather the recession.