Yelp is the second major platform this week (after Facebook) to announce a change of direction with regards to their stance on daily deals. Only one year old and Yelp plans on scaling back their deals staff by 50%. The trend seems so be in place with daily deals revenue dropping 7% since June and 38 daily deals sites have shut down in July. While another 36 opened during the same period. Ouch.

Smaller unknowns will unfortunately follow in their path. I can’t even count the number of daily deals and offers here in Rochester. None of them are memorable enough and they offer nothing of value beyond the only two deals sites I can think of: Groupon & LivingSocial.

The general public is just as confused when it comes to the choices available. Businesses are just as frustrated with the amount of sales call they get every day, each deals company selling the same exact thing.

Where’s the opportunity for business owners? Simply stick to the platform that continues to reel in new users: Foursquare. Their recent partnership with Groupon makes the most sense. I’m beginning to see more Groupon offers via Foursquare and I’d prefer to see them there rather than my inbox.

Foursquare users who clicked on a to-do’s at a specific venue will receive a push notification alerting them of the Groupon special, based on their current location. Hype-free delivery of a special tied to an activity you’ve already indicated you’re interested in doing. Location based marketing at it’s finest. For now.

Thoughts on daily deals? Love’em or leave’em?