Groupon has been able to build a company worth billions of dollars by promoting coupons. Coupons are hundreds of years old and daily sales may be even older. Both companies began by improving business practices already in use. Now let’s analyze the similarities between Google and Groupon. Offline media results are difficult to measure, require long lead times prior to publication, and are complex, if not impossible, to change post release. This led to a significant move of advertising dollars from offline media to Internet media. Anyone with a web browser could get into the game. Thanks to the text format of Adwords, they did not require artists and technology experts to launch a campaign. For the first time, advertisers were able to spend as much or little as they wanted and manage their campaign day-by-day. Prior to Adwords, Internet advertising platforms did not provide the inventory, flexibility and immediacy required by advertisers. Provide marketers with a tool they can use to measure, manage and automate their advertising spend and they will rapidly adopt your platform. Google’s success is a result of both execution and refinement of a very simple idea. Google didn’t introduce Adwords until October 2000. In 1998 Jeffrey Brewer presented the pay-per-click concept at a TED conference.
Web banners and Internet advertising were not new when Google introduced Adwords, nor was Adwords the first PPC advertising platform. While Google’s accomplishments in search set a new standard for web search, the company’s ability to monetize search was the most significant accomplishment.
Let’s examine this business need, beginning with Google. These two overnight success stories tap into the same basic business need to produce astounding success. Groupon is now positioned to go public with a valuation of up to $20B. In October 2008 Groupon offered its first deal, a half-off coupon for the pizza restaurant on the first floor of the Groupon office building. The site evolved first into a public petition site and then into Groupon. Eric Lefkofsky provided $1 million of support and the site launched. In 2006 Andrew Mason launched “The Point” to provide a forum for public debate of complex issues. Google launched its search engine as BackRub in 1996, changed its name to Google in 1997, and sold out an initial public offering at $85 a share in 2004.
0 kommentar(er)
