Amazon Announces LivingSocial Investment
The rumors that Amazon would be a competitor with Google over the daily deals site Groupon have officially come to an end. Amazon announced today that they were investing $175 million in Groupon competitor LivingSocial. This will be a tremendous boost to LivingSocial, who has attempted over the past several years to reach the same levels as Groupon but has lacked the funding to do so.
This is part of the ongoing battle for companies like Groupon and LivingSocial. Even eBay has gotten involved with their purchase of Milo. But the battle for the leader, Groupon, is far from over. The rumors continue to swirl that Google is planning to make a massive purchase when it bids for the company in the near future.
The reason why these companies are so hot right now has to do with the social aspects of their business. They take retailer discounts and make them a social activity. For all intents and purposes the sites are social networks but they make their money by advertising the hottest deals for their users and allowing them to be shared.
Companies like Google and Amazon can see the power of such systems. This is especially true when you consider that neither of the two giants has produced any kind of social networking offering as yet.
Industry leaders expect some kind of announcement from Google on their plans with Groupon in the coming days. Groupon recently announced that they were making further investments in the market as well, something that could drive their asking price up.
