Google Eyes Groupon Acquisition

By Richard Gibson
Nov 20 2010

Silicon Valley search engine giant Google reported this week that they are looking to make a buyout offer for Groupon, the online coupon and deals site.

If Google does make the purchase it could be the largest sum they have ever paid for a single website. The first record for the company was set when Google agreed to buy Youtube for $1.65 billion.

Later Google broke that record with $3.2 billion for DoubleClick. While the valuation on Groupon is currently at $1.6 billion, Google is reportedly planning to offer well over the $3 billion mark for the popular company.

Groupon has grown with leaps and bounds in the past several years. They provide consumers with coupons and discounts from every imaginable product on the market at this point. Their advertising revenue is the main attraction for Google.

If Google does buy Groupon then they would control the largest share of the online advertising market. This is a push by the search engine to cement their position in other areas of profit outside of the search engine advertising market.

Google is one of the few companies that emerged from the economic recession unscathed. While they saw shrinking stock prices during the recession, sinking below $300 per share at one point, they came out the other side with share prices that are well above market standards.

This has been the year of acquisitions for Google. They have already made three major purchases and have several others waiting for regulatory approval.