Groupon Turns Down Google: What Just Happened Here? [View article]
I don't believe barrier to entry was the issue here for Google.
Google learned its lesson on this with Google Buzz. Sure on paper it looks easy for a few Google programmers to throw a website together that duplicates or even improves upon the groupon website. Groupon offers Google a mature/profitable/loca... user base. You can't just program something like this into existence.
People follow a herd mentality. The beauty of groupon is that works because of peer pressure. Essentially its your friends and peers pressuring you to buy something because they sense a benefit for themselves.
Don't get me wrong. I can't see who can Groupon can go to next...maybe Microsoft. Certainly not facebook, because they already have the most valuable component Groupon offers... a localized social user base who are open to group think. Facebook is also better candidate for the "barrier to entry" argument. Restaurant/business owners who currently use Groupon most certainly have facebook accounts. So if FB was to create a relatively decent groupon-like app people would certainly jump ship from groupon. To me Groupon/Facebook is very similar to the Netscape/IE browser that happened over 15 years ago.
I think Google may blown the deal by diluting the deal for Groupon's VCs by offering them stock instead of cash.
Groupon Turns Down Google: What Just Happened Here? [View article]
Groupon Turns Down Google: What Just Happened Here? [View article]
Google learned its lesson on this with Google Buzz. Sure on paper it looks easy for a few Google programmers to throw a website together that duplicates or even improves upon the groupon website. Groupon offers Google a mature/profitable/loca... user base. You can't just program something like this into existence.
People follow a herd mentality. The beauty of groupon is that works because of peer pressure. Essentially its your friends and peers pressuring you to buy something because they sense a benefit for themselves.
Don't get me wrong. I can't see who can Groupon can go to next...maybe Microsoft. Certainly not facebook, because they already have the most valuable component Groupon offers... a localized social user base who are open to group think. Facebook is also better candidate for the "barrier to entry" argument. Restaurant/business owners who currently use Groupon most certainly have facebook accounts. So if FB was to create a relatively decent groupon-like app people would certainly jump ship from groupon. To me Groupon/Facebook is very similar to the Netscape/IE browser that happened over 15 years ago.
I think Google may blown the deal by diluting the deal for Groupon's VCs by offering them stock instead of cash.