Facebook has released a new feature yesterday that will enable retailers and other merchants to offer coupons and special deals through its mobile application, further taking the competition to new levels for mobile searches and advertising.

Customers using Places, Facebook's location feature, will now be able to locate a yellow icon hinting of a redeemable deal or coupon present in the vicinity. This app can be used to "check in" the store or restaurant and redeem their deal.

Tim Kendall, director of monetization at Facebook, during a press event at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif explained: "We're enabling merchants to push deals out to their existing customers and hopefully attract new customers."

Mr. Kendall added that Facebook would not charge trades directly to offer coupons and specialized deals offered through the mobile application. Instead, businesses can buy their ads to promote their offerings on the social network platform.

The recent most company to enter the Deals feature is the Gap. The firm bestows a free pair of jeans to the first 10,000 users who enter into the local Gap store using Facebook's mobile application.

Facebook is aiming to include more than two dozen major chains like H&M, 24-Hour Fitness and McDonalds for such kind of offers.

Emily White, director of local at Facebook explained: "It starts to solve an age-old problem that local businesses have always had. They've been told they need to be online. But it hasn't always been clear what the benefit is. That's what this deals platform allows. It's turning those fans, those visitors, those eyeballs into real dollars, real people and real business."