Grougle? Googlepon? Rumors Anyone?

Well, this will be a nice way to tidy up the week by adding to the rumor mill that has Google actively looking to purchase Groupon. Yup, that’s right. There is some rumor mill fodder to consider but from the heavy hitters like Kara Swisher at AllThingsDigital’s BoomTown as she reports

According to multiple sources close to the situation, Google is in discussions with local deals powerhouse Groupon about buying it.

Without making the requisite joke about the deal of the day, sources said the price being considered is certainly no discount–well above the $2 billion to $3 billion that Yahoo offered Groupon in acquisition talks that took place earlier this year.

But sources cautioned that the talks are not complete, and could also end up without any result, as the Yahoo discussions did.

So yes it is a rumor but a pretty compelling one. Not to be left out, Henry Blodget feels that Google needs to spend some of that mountain of cash they have in Mountain View.

Google is in talks to buy Groupon for more than $3 billion, Kara Swisher reports.

Good.

Google offered $2.5-$4 billion to buy Twitter a few months ago, Nicholas Carlson reports.

Also good.

Google’s Marissa Mayer is obsessed with Foursquare and is probably considering buying it.

Also good.

Google should buy all these leading companies–and more.

Here’s why:

Google has cash coming out of its ears, and the cash is currently doing the company no good whatsoever.

Pretty straightforward, huh? Whether or not any of this comes to fruition, it is starting to look more and more like Google may have had enough of developing Wave after Wave (pun obviously intended) of failed social / collaboration / whatever it is they were trying to do offerings.

Google needs to be in the social space. They need to maintain the relevancy of search as we know it or at least gracefully evolve moving forward. These things take some nuance and some more than just whiz bang engineering. It takes a soul, which Google sometimes seems to lack because it comes off as very robotic and almost stuffy at times.

I think it would be great if they bought a big name in the social space. It would give us all something to blabber about for a few days. What would be more interesting is what that purchase looks a year from the time it is bought. You can buy a small niche player like they often do and let it assimilate into the Goog without much trouble. Most people didn’t know that the companies they purchase even existed anyway.

But take a high flyer with a growing brand like Groupon or fourssquare and then see if they smother it like Lennie did to critters in “Of Mice and Men” or if they let it grow and then figure out how to integrate rather than assimilate it into the existing Google ecosystem.

All in all, it would be interesting to see Google try to buy its way into the social world. I think it’s the only way they can succeed because being social isn’t the strong suit of most engineers.

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Foursquare’s Crowley Gets Undeserved Ribbing

Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley took a lot of ribbing yesterday for a comment he made to a blogger at an NYU panel discussion. The panel was called “The Case for Media Optimism,” and Crowley stated that he thought referral fees would be the next big thing in social media marketing.

For example, if someone Tweets about a new movie and 500 of his friends follow a link to buy a ticket for the movie, then the original referrer gets a kickback for each ticket. When asked if Foursquare was working on this idea, Crowley said it was on a long list of ideas under consideration.

Here’s where it gets sticky. Jeff Bercovici from Forbes.com asked Crowley how he would get around the FTC ruling that required full disclosure when an endorsement was offered on social media in return for payment of some kind (cash, product or service.)

Bercovici writes:

Crowley was surprised. He hadn’t known that was the case, he said. He made a note to bring up the issue with Foursquare’s legal team, and thanked me for alerting him to a potential complication that could influence their decision about whether to move forward.

Gawker and other outlets picked up on the statement and replied with jeering remarks about Crowley’s intelligence and his ability to run a major company.

But the truth is, the FTC ruling may not apply in Foursquare’s case. Here’s the important section from the FTC’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Commission does not believe that all uses of new consumer-generated media to discuss product attributes or consumer experiences should be deemed “endorsements” within the meaning of the Guides.

Rather, in analyzing statements made via these new media, the fundamental question is whether, viewed objectively, the relationship between the advertiser and the speaker is such that the speaker’s statement can be considered “sponsored” by the advertiser and therefore an “advertising message.”

In other words, in disseminating positive statements about a product or service, is the speaker: (1) acting solely independently, in which case there is no endorsement, or (2) acting on behalf of the advertiser or its agent, such that the speaker’s statement is an “endorsement” that is part of an overall marketing campaign?

The way I read that, a person who decides to talk about a movie to their friends, then after the fact, gets a $15 Fandango gift certificate as a thank you, doesn’t constitute an endorsement and thus isn’t covered by the rule.

If Foursquare says to a member, we’ll give you a Fandango gift certificate if you checkin from your local theater and give a glowing report of the movie — that’s an endorsement and has to have a disclaimer.

Offering social media kickbacks for positive results is not a contract between the company and the user. It’s not a paid endorsement. Giving me a DVD for free in return for a review on my blog, is an endorsement.

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Will Google Me Become Reality?

Google’s Chief Executive Eric Schmidt started a buzz or maybe a wave when he let it “slip” today that Google will be adding a  ‘social layer’ this fall.

Oh, there’s so much to discuss in that statement. First of all, ‘social layer?’ Some reporters are taking this to mean that Google will be adding social elements to all of their current sites as opposed to developing a new site specifically aimed at competing with Facebook. This being the case, it’s likely they’ll create a home page for people that allows them to link to and follow all of the related info from their friends.

Remember, Google already tried a similar trick with Google Buzz which was a horrendous failure. But Buzz was like Twitter meets Digg and not a true social networking site where you can spend virtual time with your friends.

The second part of the statement is the “this fall” part. Isn’t it fall? Or is he talking about calendar fall which will happen on September 22. Sure there have been rumors of a social site on the horizon, but are they really ready to roll out a major program in the next few weeks?

As for the “slipped” part, I wasn’t there, but according to Bloomberg, Schmidt dropped the info unexpectedly when a Facebook executive made a comment about Google building a social networking site. When questioned further, he wouldn’t elaborate, except to say that he hoped Facebook would allow Google access to their data. The Wall Street Journal wrote:

“The best thing that would happen is for Facebook to open up its data,” Mr. Schmidt said. “Failing that, there are other ways to get that information.” He declined to be specific.

If Google Me gets it even half right, they could be the first real competition Facebook has seen in a long time. Looking at the track record though, I don’t expect to see a mass exodus from Facebook anytime soon.

Can Google can put together a strong social networking site that’s strong enough to knock out the current king? What do you think?

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Is Daily Radar Gone For Good?

A few minutes ago, I pointed by my browser to the Daily Radar Blips sites with the intention of dropping a link to my last post here on Marketing Pilgrim. This is what I found:

Apparently Future US, the parent company of Daily Radar, has pulled the plug on the entire network including BallHype, ShowHype and my beloved TVBlips. Seriously? Just like that?

I took a turn around the internet and Twitter and was surprised to find that it wasn’t a big topic of conversation. Few people seem to have noticed the closure and maybe that, right there, explains it all.

Daily Radar was a niche version of Digg. Instead of adding your links to a general pot, you added them to a specific “blips” portal individually or by way of a feed. They had a site for TV, music, politics, green living, webmarketing, technology and all the major sports. There had to be at 30 – 50 sites in the network and now there are none.

Websites close everyday, though not as often as they used to, but this no notice closure is particularly annoying because Daily Radar was a community site. It wasn’t written by staff members. I know this because I was a staff member a few years ago. We kept the sites neat and tidy, but the content was provided by the thousands of blog feeds that were listed across all the niche sites.

Once you became a member, there was friending and following and voting stories up and down and commenting. . .you know. . .a community. People. People  like me who both enjoyed reading the sites and learned to depend on it as a means of marketing my posts.

I suppose there are numerous legitimate business reasons for not alerting the world that a site is about to go dark. I also supposed that I wouldn’t feel any better about losing a site I visited on a regular basis if I knew about it ahead of time. Still, it would be nice to hear an explanation, even if it is the standard, we weren’t making enough money.  The parent company, Future US, is a major publisher of gamer and computer magazines, which has to be a tough sell these days. Things are changing so fast, how can there be any new news in a computer magazine that has to be written three months before publication? Maybe the downturn in magazine sales meant that the budget had to be slashed and Daily Radar took the bullet.

Maybe in the next few days, more news on the whys and wheres will come to light. But for me, it’s a sad day. Daily Radar sites are on the referrers list on every one of my websites and I will be hard pressed to find a replacement. Maybe the new Digg will take their spot? I doubt it, but I’ll give it a try.

Were you a Daily Radar blip site user? What are your thoughts on the no-notice shut down?

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Why I Don’t Care About “Google Me”

So the big rumor of the weekend is that Google may soon launch a Facebook competitor called “Google Me.”

It all kicked off after Digg founder Kevin Rose tweeted:

Now everyone is jumping in and speculating just how Google might do battle with Facebook.

As for me? Let me ask you this: What product has Google launched that has seriously competed in the social networking space? Any of these?

This is all the coverage I personally plan to give the story until two things happen:

1. Google actually launches this new service
2. It’s able to gain even a fraction of the market share of Facebook – and Brazil doesn’t count!

Until then, Google will remain a great search engine and a lousy social network.

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