According to reports, Google attempted to purchase Groupon for $6 billion -- a bid that CEO Andrew Mason rejected. The reason for Google's interest in the consumer discount website is fairly straightforward. Groupon went from 400 subscribers in December 2008 to 44 million in December 2010.
So, after being rebuffed, Google decided to do the next best thing: create its own daily-deal outfit.
But Google isn't the only company trying to duplicate the enormous success of Groupon. Many imitators are also giving the daily-deal thing a go.
Surge Desk takes a look at the businesses vying for a piece of the daily-deal pie.
The biggest competitors are:
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Living Social
Technically speaking, Living Social isn't a Groupon imitator, since it launched before Groupon. Living Social is widely believed to be the biggest threat to Groupon, with a $175 million investment from Amazon. That partnership may be why LivingSocial was able to offer $20 Amazon gift cards for $10, selling well over 1 million of them. -
Wow!
AOL's new daily deal site, Wow, launched late last year. Wow differs from Groupon in that it doesn't require a minimum number of people to buy a deal for it to be "on." AOL (Surge Desk's parent company) hopes to take advantage of its e-mail database with this venture. -
Buy With Me
Buy With Me is another Groupon competitor to watch, since it received high levels of growth -- and $5.5 million in funding from Matrix Partners -- last year.
Other competitors on the horizon include:
And sites like Yipit and Deal Radar aggregate deals offered by others.
Follow Surge Desk on Twitter.
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