I can't imagine that it was. Having worked at a deals startup myself and spoken with many business owners who have done Groupon/LS, all they have to tell the co

I can't imagine that it was. Having worked at a deals startup myself and spoken with many business owners who have done Groupon/LS, all they have to tell the company is "Well [insert competitor here] is giving me 70/30". They'd rather lower their commission than walk away from the deal. This will be a slow race to the bottom, although I'm encouraged to see Groupon experimenting with loyalty and analytics components. Regardless of popular sentiment, the SMB space has been underserved for awhile now and if they do figure out how to make it work, then they'll own local. I wouldn't count them out just yet.