Friday Roundup: Yahoo may buy Groupon, AOL to WOW the rest

by: on October 8, 2010
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While you were busy complaining about how awful the new Gap logo is, we were looking for this week’s top daily deal stories.  This week, AOL made plans to roll out their very own Daily Deal product, a university study found salons and spas make the most profit from Daily Deals, Groupon acquisition rumors surfaced, and one company has a trick up its sleeve to commemorate a unique date next week.  Here’s your Friday roundup:

  • AOL Plans to launch its very own Daily Deal product, WOW!, in the near future. COO Nel Brody  WOW! will succeed based on AOL’s extensive distribution network and loyal customer base.  Let’s hope it’s more successful than Earlybird. [TechCrunch]
  • Researchers at Rice University found that Groupon is more successful for spas and salons, less so for restaurants. According to the study, which looked at 150 SMBs in 13 product categories in 19 markets, only 62% of those surveyed reported making a profit from Groupon.  [Houston Business Journal]
  • LivingSocial made more headway on its 2010 expansion. Lubbock, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Alpharetta, the Piedmont Triad, and Palm Beach County now have their very own sites. [PRNewswire]
  • There are now rumors that Yahoo wants to buy Groupon in an effort to jump on the local group commerce bandwagon. Yahoo wants the Daily Deal giant as a way to add a profitable, fast-growing arm to its network. [AllThingsDigital]
  • A Canadian Daily Deal site is planning a very special promotion for October 10, 2010 (10-10-10). [MarketWatch]

Heard anything else interesting? Comment below or call us out on Twitter:@yipit. Otherwise, we’ll get back to building Yipit, which gathers and filters daily deals based on your tastes.