4 ms·
Local advertising will be as big (if not bigger) than AdWords, ergo Groupon is the new Google. No wonder they turned them down.
by aditya 16y ago
Local advertising will be as big (if not bigger) than AdWords, ergo Groupon is the new Google. No wonder they turned them down.
- nhangen 16y agoGoogle isn't AdWords, Google is search (and now, the web). Search > Coupons. Google > Groupon
- malbiniak 16y agoWhat if the argument was Groupon was local search? From a revenue driving. Local Search > Search, Local Couponing > AdWords. Therefore, Groupon > Google.
- nhangen 16y agoLook at how Groupon is driving most of their traffic right now...250x250 AdWords ads. If you could show me how Local Search could exist outside of search, then you might have an argument, but right now, I just don't see it.
- philwelch 16y agoGoogle can't exist outside of the power company. Does that mean the power company is bigger than Google?
- mmt 16y agoGoogle can't exist outside of the power company. I doubt very much that Google doesn't generate at least some of their own power. I'm quite confident that they can exist outside of any single power company. Does the analogy hold after this premise is eliminated?
- philwelch 16y agoThe analogy does hold up, because it doesn't rest on the specific quibbles you brought up--namely that Google has more of a monopoly on web advertising than Google's power company has on power. It rests on the fact that a company's dependence on another company's services says nothing about which company is bigger than the other.
- mmt 16y agoI understand the point, which could very well hold up, but does the analogy? Saying that the analogy (argument) rests on "the fact that..." pretty blatantly begs the question. Is there a case where one company is both bigger than and wholly[1] depends on another, single company's services? I would be unsurprised if the answer is "no" and that this is the case because dependents are invariably absorbed or killed off by the "parent" before they can grow larger. [1] If the issue is monopoly, then my "quibble" is that, to Google (or any other electricity consumer beyond a modest size), no company has a monopoly on power.
- philwelch 16y agoBy handwaving and hyperbole Google is the web and Groupon is real life, and since Real Life > The Web, hence Groupon > Google. By actual revenue? Google is AdWords.
- nhangen 16y agohandwaving and hyberbole? Google has a ton of real life assets. Google Voice is a game changer, as is Android. I don't see how suddenly, based on an inflated valuation, Groupon is suddenly bigger than Google. The proof is in the pudding...time will tell.
- philwelch 16y agoThere's someone making money off of Android, but it's hardware makers and the cell networks, not Google. What's Android's strategic relevance? More web advertising. Google Voice? Value-add for Android, maybe, but how does it add to their revenue? I don't think Groupon will necessarily end up bigger than Google, but they may end up fairly comparable. The point is, Groupon is a fairly young startup with some growth left in it and Google is a mature, publicly-traded company. As a business (rather than as a social force or a technical harbinger), Google rounds down to web advertising. To beat Google as a business, you have to beat Google's web advertising. Groupon can do that.
- alexro 16y agoTo beat anybody you need to became more valuable in the everyday activities. Care to explain how Groupon can matter in the online or offline life for an average person?
- philwelch 16y agoThere are dozens of businesses more successful than Google which don't matter in the online or offline life for an average person.
- ryanwaggoner 16y agoNo, Google is an advertising company, pure and simple. Virtually all of their products are a means to aggregate an audience that they can sell to advertisers. Search is just another way that they do this. Groupon could definitely end up being bigger than Google.
- axod 16y agoIf there was ever a sign of a bubble, it's this comment. Some local coupon startup thingy bigger than Google? u-huh. People have been saying 'local is gonna be big' for years. I don't see why. Why do they think more money will be spent locally than people already spend other places?
- ryanwaggoner 16y agoYeah, cause everyone knew Google was going to be worth 200 billion or whatever after they were 18 months in. And the amount people spend on local commerce absolutely dwarfs all online spending, let alone online advertising.
- pchristensen 16y ago2001: Some web search thingy bigger than all the auto and media companies in the US? u-huh.
- henry81 16y agoI don't know the accuracy of this but a documentary I watched last night about Google claims that 95% of their revenue comes from AdWords.
- 3pt14159 16y agoI know that 99.5% comes from adwords and other advertising holdings (like double click and remarketing)
- axod 16y agoNot buying it. I don't spend much money locally. I spend it online.
- philwelch 16y agoReally? How do you eat? Do you ever go anywhere besides home and work? I suspect your spending habits are fairly unusual.
- axod 16y agoI buy groceries at the same store each week, which has its own loyalty/voucher scheme, as is the norm here at least (UK). Yeah I shop for various things in town, but I can't be bothered with vouchers for them. I guess if you're a very promiscuous restaurant goer who lives in a city, then this could be useful for you, but it's hardly in the same ballpark as Google.
- haploid 16y agoI respect Groupon. They've built a good company predicated on a good business model in record time. They properly deserve all the fortune they reap. That said, I don't understand why they are seen to be a technology company. They are basically a massive sales organization. I'm sure they use technology to tie together their sales automation, but I doubt it's anything more significant than any other IT installation at any other medium-sized sales-oriented company. Perhaps I'm missing something. Why is Groupon hailed as a technological marvel?
- brandnewlow 16y agoSo the tech press has something to write about.
- maxer 16y agoandrew mason said when he moved from concentrating on the point, he used wordpress as the first groupon site
- pchristensen 16y agoIt was a thepoint widget showing in a Wordpress blog. It did use all of the technology behind thepoint but used Wordpress as presentation.
- pchristensen 16y agoIt's about as techy as Amazon was after two years. Amazon is actually a much better comparison for Groupon than any of the other tech companies. Non-technical business, lots of investment in non-technical assets (warehouses vs writers/sales/customer service), etc. No one has said that Groupon is a technical marvel, but there are the usual challenges involved in high traffic website as well as a lot of development on new initiatives, internationalization, etc. Groupon is making big investments in its technology platform this year. Look for some news about it in January.
- brandnewlow 16y agoYou are unstoppable in these Groupon threads. Ask Mason and co. for a raise!