Yes, Groupon, along with some other startups, has a problem because the business they are in is a geographically local natural monopoly: In one city everyone u

Yes, Groupon, along with some other startups, has a problem because the business they are in is a geographically local natural monopoly: In one city everyone uses the coupon service that is most popular in that city because that service has the most coupons from merchants in that city because that service has the most users in that city. So, whatever Groupon does around the world, they can be beaten in one city at a time. That is, a shopper and a merchant in Peoria don't much care that Groupon is also in San Francisco, Australia, and Brazil. Similarly for romantic matchmaking, restaurant recommendations, headhunting, real estate listing, plumber recommendations, etc.