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Comment by rohanprabhu | Hacker News Reader

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rohanprabhu

Not another groupon clone please...

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Not just another one -- the Groupon clone to end all Groupon clones.

And I mean that literally. Once Google enters the game, who else will bother? Either

a) Google will lose against Groupon, proving that it's impossible to dislodge Groupon, or

b) Google will win against Groupon, in which case you'd be crazy to take on Google

David can sometimes beat Goliath, but if King Kong shows up to the fight as well then David should probably just go home.

Unless you headshot Kong Kong (meaning have a better tool or a better way to win).

Don't forget Living Social. I've seen better and better offers from them this year. Seem to be doing well.

But, what happens when David recruits Jane to his side? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2471581

Of course any evidence of that would break any confidentiality agreements that were surely put in place when stepping down from Google.

Maybe if it were Apple these would be the only two options. Unfortunately Google does a lot of "half ass" launches. By that I mean they release a product that is the "Google version" of something else that is out there. But they do no marketing, so unless it's amazing like Gmail or Chrome the most likely option is what happens to most things Google clones:

c) Google launches, and some people use it... but not enough to make a dent in Groupon, but just enough people to justify running the service

I saw a big billboard ad for the Chrome browser on a UK motorway a couple of months ago. I was very surprised, at least until I saw an IE9 billboard in a petrol ('gas') station the other day.

As far as I know, Chrome is the only google product that has ever been advertised. (Y'know, outside google's own ad network.)

Pretty safe to say that if it's new, shiny, buzzing, makes money and users love it - Google will either (offer to) buy it, or build it.

why not? competition is great.

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