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Now we start understanding why Groupon has rejected Google's tempting buyout offer.
The upcoming I.P.O. has disclosed a number of figures and provided some hints regarding the company's real value. In the light of the above, the amount suggested by Google looks ridiculously small as the only one-week investments make nearly 20 per cent of it:

This week, Groupon raised nearly $1 billion from large investors, including Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Morgan Stanley. It was the largest fund-raising effort ever for a start-up, a venture capital record previously held for 15 years by DreamWorks Animation SKG, based on Thomson Reuters data. Given Morgan Stanley’s recent stake, some analysts think it is on the short list of banks vying to take Groupon public."

NYTimes

Groupon has allegedly rejected Google's buyout proposal.

For the last two weeks Groupon being acquired by Google was the most discussed social commerce topics. This was foretold to be a deal of the year. However, now we hear that Groupon has quitted the bargain.

Groupon will allegedly be purchased by Google

The acquisition estimations vary between $ 2.5 to $ 6 billion, which exceeds at least twice the price of YouTube, bought by the most popular search engine company some time ago. Apart from YouTube, Google has purchased quite a few remarkable ventures, such as Andorid, Double Click, AdMob, Picasa.

It would be extra thing to describe what Groupon is, if you didn't know what would you be doing here? If some businesses sink down during the recession, some become all the rage. The popularity of Groupon over the two years of its existence never doubled or tripled - it has always been growing tenfold or higher.

Today's post will talk about the "Escapes", vacation service launched by a well-known group-buying website Living Social.

The general idea is as old as the world. Extremely inexpensive hot tours across the world used to be the favorite trick employed by travel agencies over the decades. The hallmark of Escapes is the provision of one-weekend vacation in the hood or overseas. Each deal offers a special escape kit apart from the board the bargain hunters will get spa amenities, a bottle of wine, discounted parking or complementary late checkout.

Hotels, which are in bad need for visitors, would be happy to pay-commission to a daily-deal website that brings along a hundred of visitors at once, rather than a travel agency, who retail the accommodation/excursion packages one by one, especially during the low season. So this will be a good start for the newly launched group-buying website: just contact a fresh opened hotel nearby, discuss the escape kit and see the first deal tipped!