Google rumored to have bought Groupon for $2.5 billion

It seems, if unnamed insider sources and some speculation from TechCrunch are to be believed, that Google has just bought Groupon, the deal-of-the-day website, for $2.5 billion.

Yahoo tried, and failed, to buy Groupon for over $3 billion earlier this year, but little is known about why the deal fell apart. That Google has now apparently bought them for 'only' $2.5 billion would suggest that Groupon's management team would prefer a future as part of Google instead of Yahoo.

As far as what Google stands to gain from the deal, other than raw cash -- Groupon is rather profitable -- we will probably see extensive integration between Groupon and Google's Places and Shopping products. When searching for Places, coupons for local businesses could be shown. When looking for the lowest prices with Shopping, coupons could be worked into the results.

Ultimately, though, I just hope that this merger will result in a site called Goopon.

Posted in: Google,Web