If you’re an internet business owner, you may already have a presence on the deal-of-the-day site known as Groupon. If not, now may be as good a time as any with the introduction of two new initiatives from Groupon.

Where Does Google Stand On All This?

Rumours have been flying around about Google possibly buying Groupon, but, as unlikely as that may have seemed previously, since Groupon has tools in place, its own established, good-sized audience and is set up to make money without any outside help (even if that help were to come in the form of a massive cash injection from search giant Google), it’s now pretty obvious that Groupon can stand on its own. After all, social networking is still in its infancy and the signs are that it will continue to see massive growth, and consumers love to save money and that will never change.

Two New Game-Changing Initiatives

Groupon is changing the game for both consumers and merchants with two new initiatives.

The first is Groupon Stores, which is a free service that allows merchants to set up their own virtual storefront within Groupon, where they will be able to create deals, which can then be activated and sent to Groupon subscribers. Subscribers can choose to follow merchants’ Groupon Stores and will be able to take advantage of future deals and news updates. Consumers will also be matched up with the best deals every day and notified of same.

The other new initiative is the Deal Feed, which streams updated deals to consumers personalised to their particular taste on a daily basis. They’ll receive the deal of the day, along with other deals personalised for them based on what Groupon already knows about them, including deals from merchants they follow.

Groupon plans to extend the social reach of their Deal Feed by integrating it with Facebook, showing consumers’ friends the deals they’re getting and allowing them to share them, etc., thus extending Groupon’s reach even further.

Groupon Doesn’t Need Google

It’s obvious from all this that Groupon is going from strength to strength and has managed to do something many others have tried to do but failed and that is create a social shopping network. They’ve got the audience of the world’s largest social network at their disposal along with their own extensive audience, and they’re aligned with some of the largest international companies like Gap, making for a formula that can’t fail. Their international reach is also growing, partly thanks to their involvement with Facebook, and partly thanks to Groupon acquiring international Groupon clones. Groupon is doing just fine on its own, so it’s probably safe to say rumours of a takeover by Google are just that, rumours.

Take advantage of Groupon’s expanding reach to expand the reach of your own internet business by signing up for Groupon Stores and Deal Feed.

An internet marketing service can help you set up your business on Groupon, and work with you to get the most out of this and every other social media platform as part of your search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy.

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