There is much truth in Ben Parr’s Mashable story about the end of the “Daily Deals Era”. The end of Facebook Deals last week was viewed as a benefit for sites that specialize in the arena such as Groupon and Living Social, but now it might have sparked another question: what did Facebook learn that made them pull out so quickly? The concept is a brilliant one. Connect businesses and individuals in a way that is beneficial to both by applying the rise of social media into a bulk-buying arena. The concept was strong but there was one major flaw – the hype machine can only cover up the truth for so long. Many…

That didn’t take long. After testing the waters that Groupon and LivingSocial dominate, Facebook has pulled the plug on Deals. “We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses,” Facebook said in the statement. “We’ve learned a lot from our test and we’ll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses.” In April, Facebook put everyone on notice that they were “testing the waters” of the daily deals phenomenon. Groupon and LivingSocial have had tremendous success offering social-media-only bargains that require a certain threshold of buyers…

The easiest way to get people to use a service is to save them money. That fact has been the catalyst for the tremendous growth of Daily Deals group buying companies like Living Social and Groupon over the last couple of years. Will it continue to be hot the way that other aspects of social networking have or will it die as quickly as tie dye? That’s the question that the folks over at GPlus tackled with the infographic below. In it, they take a look at these and other sites, comparing how large they’ve grown both online and through physical presence and try to determine what the future holds for this type…

In many ways, social buying was inevitable. Once eCommerce started really taking off last decade followed by the growth of social media, the two seemed destined to come together like chocolate and peanut butter. We trust each other more than we trust companies and the concept of using power of groups to buy in bulk while still being an individual has always been appealing. Thus, social buying was born, and it’s expanded tremendously over the years. This breakdown by our friends at Flowtown takes a look at the short but loaded history of social buying. Click to enlarge. …

Loopt has announced a new service that’s essentially a reverse Groupon, allowing users to get custom deals made on demand. The geo-social app company believes u-Deal will be able to turn a merchant’s best customer into its biggest advocate. And, since the service empowers consumers to create the deal, it’s far less obtrusive than Groupon, which provides daily deals for places you’ve never been to, or may never want to go. u-Deal gives users the ability to create a deal and get friends to sign up for the deal. Finally, Loopt sends the deal to the business for approval. This is a unique system…

There is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes before they can do real damage. That opportunity is Groupon, and the opportunity presents itself in the form of an upcoming IPO that needs to fail for the sake of the rest of the internet. Sounds weird, I know, but hear me out. The GrouPonzi Scheme When Groupon was able to raise a billion dollars in funding, many (including me) applauded it as a sign of a company that was doing the right things with their money and demonstrating responsibility. Granted, it was based upon an assumption that the investors looked at the books and found them to be sound. Why…

Groupon’s Superbowl ads have already generated a firestorm of controversy. The spots, which variously made light of endangered whales, rainforest depletion or the brutal Chinese oppression of Tibet, are being criticized for not only dismissively treating some pretty serious issues, but doing so to sell… discount coupons. But it would be a mistake to look at these ads as a little blip in an otherwise smoothly functioning world. Instead, these Groupon ads are a sign of how the tech world functions and thinks. And what’s clear is that there is something seriously wrong with that mentality….

Google couldn’t buy them and some believe this is a good thing. As more numbers start to get tossed out about valuation, profits, and potential, GroupOn’s filing to authorize up to $950 million in Series G funding comes as music to the ears of many in the venture capital world. At $31.59 a share, is it a good deal? Good deals are GroupOn’s specialty. This is no exception. The filing authorizes up to 250 million share. According to VC Experts, if all of them are issued, Groupon’s valuation could be as high as $7.8 billion. We knew there was a reason they would pass on Google’s $6 billion offer and why Groupon…

Google might of lost the battle with Groupon, but the Search Giant clearly feels that they have not lost the war in hyper-local deals just yet. Amidst their failed $6 billion takeover of Groupon, Google is now throwing out a line to smaller fish in the local deals marketplace. LivingSocial and BuyWithMe are now on Google’s radar, and while these two websites have achieved much less than Groupon, they are still formidable competitors in the marketplace. If Google has their eye on them and makes a purchase, Groupon might have something to worry about, especially when considering the power that Google wields with…

There is a lot of chitter chatter going on throughout the tech industry about a big potential acquisition of Groupon by Google, but the biggest question yet is whether or not Google has already purchased the site. Some reports have already been released that have stated that Google has already purchased the site. The only thing that is missing, however, is a confirmation from either company. VatorNews has reported that an unnamed source has informed them that Google has already purchased Groupon for $2.5 billion. However, the certainty of this being the actual truth is under question (we know…