Google launching groupon clone. Goopon?

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cheezy321

cheezy321

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Dec 31, 2003
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http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/20/is-this-googles-groupon-clone-well-the-logo-fits/

A report on Mashable shows that Google will be imminently launching a Groupon clone, called Google Offers. By the look of the documents they have received from a source this product seems like it would be your run of the mill Groupon clone, “A Google Offer is a daily deal that enables subscribers to pre-purchase products and services at an attractive discount.” Ha.

Sean McCann adds another piece of the puzzle with a Google hosted Google offers logo, of the URL https://www.google.com/images/logos/offers_logo.gif. It matches the one in the document below. The 404 page for http://google.com/offers is also graphically unique from those of http://google.com/test and http://google.com/deals, which both land on the same page.

Last time the search giant attempted a foray into the deals space, it reportedly offered Groupon itself $6 billion for an acquisition. Groupon didn’t bite and looks to be progressing towards an IPO at a $15 billion valuation.

I’ve contacted Google for a confirmation and will update this post when they respond.

Update: Google confirms that this is indeed their Groupon clone in a statement to Search Engine Land.

"Google is communicating with small businesses to enlist their support and participation in a test of a pre-paid offers/vouchers program. This initiative is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new products, such as the recent Offer Ads beta, that connect businesses with customers in new ways. We do not have more details to share at this time, but will keep you posted."
Click to expand...

I wonder how this will fare. Lots of groupon clones in the market now. Groupon is supposedly worth 15 billion and will launch an IPO soon. Just a 2 year old company.
 
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destrekor

destrekor

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Nov 18, 2005
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Google follows of business plan that can be summed up as: develop clones of popular services, add google flair, rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Then, promote successful clones, scrap the ones that stagnate.

Google literally wants their hand in absolutely everything the average consumer currently finds interesting. If their product is successful, they promote it and improve upon it continuously; if the product fails, they abandon it the moment they see there is no hope of catching up to the competition.

And Google also follows the notion of buying start-ups or fairly new organizations that have shown they have a chance of success. I don't know if Google has sold the companies they have bought, either outright ownership or large stakes, but it seems they like to buy the ones they can, and compete against the ones they cannot (or the ones who wouldn't bite the offer).

I like this, because at the minimum, it promotes new ideas. Sometimes google will develop an improvement for a clone, but their version finds little market share - yet, the improvements Google developed, find their way into other products.
And in the best case scenario, it moves Google closer to being the company that can truly provide every service one may care to utilize on the internet. There are pros and cons in that approach, for both the consumer and corporation... and there's also the risk of Google turning into an evil organization that seeks to control our lives and make us slaves to the machine overlords. But hell, if we're doomed, I'll ride that ship till it sinks, and then I'll contemplate my chances of success in joining the mob seeking to overthrow our metal rulers.
 
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J

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
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81
destrekor said:
Google follows of business plan that can be summed up as: develop clones of popular services, add google flair, rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Then, promote successful clones, scrap the ones that stagnate.

Google literally wants their hand in absolutely everything the average consumer currently finds interesting. If their product is successful, they promote it and improve upon it continuously; if the product fails, they abandon it the moment they see there is no hope of catching up to the competition.

I like this, because at the minimum, it promotes new ideas. Sometimes google will develop an improvement for a clone, but their version finds little market share - yet, the improvements Google developed, find their way into other products.
And in the best case scenario, it moves Google closer to being the company that can truly provide every service one may care to utilize on the internet. There are pros and cons in that approach, for both the consumer and corporation... and there's also the risk of Google turning into an evil organization that seeks to control our lives and make us slaves to the machine overlords. But hell, if we're doomed, I'll ride that ship till it sinks, and then I'll contemplate my chances of success in joining the mob seeking to overthrow our metal rulers.
Click to expand...

They first try to buy the popular service first before they clone it. Cheaper to buy an existing user base than spend the marketing to acquire users. That's why they were willing to buy Groupon for so much money.
 
destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
JS80 said:
They first try to buy the popular service first before they clone it. Cheaper to buy an existing user base than spend the marketing to acquire users. That's why they were willing to buy Groupon for so much money.
Click to expand...

see my edit, which I attempted to craftily hide in the middle of my post.

I see I didn't get it in there in time. I knew someone would mention that little fact. :)
 
J

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
silverpig said:
Cash out at $6 billion or cash out at $15 billion? Hmmm...

Besides, it could have been the VCs who pushed the envelope on not accepting the google offer.
Click to expand...

They ain't getting $15b valuations after this little development.

I'd be interested in seeing who vetoed the merger. It could very well be that they never had the intent to sell to begin with and just wanted price discovery.
 
silverpig

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,703
12
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JS80 said:
They ain't getting $15b valuations after this little development.

I'd be interested in seeing who vetoed the merger. It could very well be that they never had the intent to sell to begin with and just wanted price discovery.
Click to expand...

If Goldman is handling the underwriting, I'd be surprised if they weren't valued at $18 billion :p
 
cheezy321

cheezy321

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2003
6,218
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JS80 said:
They ain't getting $15b valuations after this little development.

I'd be interested in seeing who vetoed the merger. It could very well be that they never had the intent to sell to begin with and just wanted price discovery.
Click to expand...

Do you really think google is going to dominate this market? Groupon has a huge first mover advantage.

Besides android, google hasnt had a huge hit on its hands in quite some time. They have flopped in a lot of areas, including the local space (which i think deals is a part of).

Google has been pretty much a one trick pony so far when it comes to actually making money. That one trick pony is their advertising platform.
 
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