But then I think, what was it that sucked billions of dollars out of the newspaper classified ad business? Was it another multi-billion dollar venture, or was it a plucky little start-up that (while now worth a lot of money) killed a newspaper industry cash cow while operating on a relative shoestring?
The difficult part of creating such a competitor to sites like Groupon would be to find an inexpensive way to verify the deals posted - pranking would quickly undermine such a service - but if you can find a cheap way to verify deals you would be in a good spot to knock out the multi-billion dollar "deal of the day" sites with your inexpensive, more inclusive alternative.
Around here it seems like Groupon offers great deals from businesses you've never heard of, and which may not be around next year. Or next month. It seems like a good service for bargain hunters, but I can understand why many businesses reportedly complain that it doesn't generate much return business. Bargain hunters are looking for the next bargain, not "the same thing, but this time at full retail."
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