Amazon boosts AmazonLocal with $10 gift card for $5

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Many companies are still trying to make it in the market for daily deals, competing with giant Groupon and a host of smaller rivals. But Amazon.com is in a unique position with its AmazonLocal deals site thanks to the fact that it’s, well, Amazon.com. Case in point: Today’s nationwide AmazonLocal deal offering a $10 Amazon… Read More…

Amazon filing shows $558M loss for LivingSocial in 2011

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How much does it cost to bulk up and compete with the likes of Groupon in the daily deals market? Amazon.com’s annual Form 10-K filing, made public this morning, reveals detailed financial information about LivingSocial, the privately-held Washington, D.C.-based company in which Amazon is an investor. A footnote in Amazon’s filing gives this condensed statement of… Read More…

Report: LivingSocial is raising $200 million at a $5 billion valuation

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Groupon has already taken the public markets by storm, with the Chicago-based daily deal site posting a massive $16 billion market value just a few days after its IPO. Now, Groupon rival LivingSocial is getting ready to announce a massive $200 million funding round that will value the Washington D.C. startup at more than $5… Read More…

Kindle Fire will outsell iPad, Windows Phone will rebound, and six other tech predictions

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Facebook will go public in 2012. Apple will lose some of its innovative edge without Steve Jobs. And the majority of Americans will be driving electric vehicles by the year 2022. Those were some of the predictions last night as the Washington Technology Industry Association hosted their annual Predictions Dinner. I had the distinct honor, once… Read More…

Groupon IPO: Is this the next Amazon.com or Pets.com?

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Group discount buying service Groupon, the granddaddy of the daily deals startups, debuted on the stock market this morning with its highly anticipated IPO, trading on the Nasdaq exchange as GRPN. This will be a fascinating one to watch as a litmus test for other startups and a gauge of the tech economy. It’s hard… Read More…

Wishpot jumps into the very crowded arena of travel deals

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Wishpot faces no shortage of competition with its new daily deal service for travel. After all, in the past few months Groupon and Expedia have launched a new daily deal offering, and upstarts like Seattle-based Off & Away have expanded into deals for hotel rooms. Nonetheless, Wishpot — led by CEO Max Ciccotosto — is looking… Read More…

One place for daily deals: Microsoft Bing’s new aggregation site

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Microsoft this morning launched Bing Deals, aiming to make its search engine a destination for the wide variety of daily deals available to consumers in many cities and regions these days. The goal is to solve a problem for people who feel “overloaded with deals that aren’t relevant to them,” said Bing’s Lisa Gurry in… Read More…

Here are the problems facing Groupon and Living Social: Scale, repeat customers and targeting

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Are Groupon and Living Social the next great things in online advertising? Or, are they just a flash in the pan? That was the fascinating debate which broke out earlier this week at the Mobile Future Forward conference in Seattle where panelists debated the challenges in front of the fast-growing daily deal businesses. RealNetworks chairman Rob… Read More…

Google Offers sets its sights on Groupon with whale of a deal at The Seattle Aquarium

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Google Offers is finally arriving on the shores of Seattle, and it is looking to make chum out of rival Groupon with a half off discount on tickets for the The Seattle Aquarium. Those who participate in the Google Offers’ deal also can apply the discount to a family or individual membership. The Seattle Aquarium… Read More…