skibum - 5:25 am on Dec 10, 2010 (gmt 0)

It can be good IF the business plans for it and it doesn't take away from customers who actually pay and customers don't become trained to wait for the next Groupon to come out. With more competition, the Groupon profit margin may shrink substantially. They get a REALLY fat cut right now at 50% of the purchase price to the consumer. It is a simple model that scales well and could go global. It also takes some customer service which I'm not aware that Google is known for.