daily deals

Groupon said today it has no plans to replace CEO Andrew Mason after its board met to discuss whether senior management changes were necessary at the struggling daily deals company.

Unhappy with the Chicago-based company's plummeting stock value, Groupon's board of directors were reportedly looking to make leadership changes at the top, including the option of bringing in a more experienced CEO to replace Mason, one of the company's co-founders. After the meeting concluded, the company announced that Mason would remain as CEO.

"The board and the management team are focused on the performance of the … Read more

Groupon announced a partnership with Major League Baseball today, promising discounted game tickets and exclusive perks for all 30 of the league's teams.

The multi-year agreement with MLB's media arm is good news for the daily deals company, which has had trouble convincing Wall Street of its worth. It's a big name for Groupon to add to GrouponLive, its local live entertainment offerings, and builds on Groupon's baseball game discounts offered during the regular 2012 season and the post season.

GrouponLive General Manager, Greg Rudin said fans can expect exclusive access, luxury seats, and clubhouse and … Read more

Rumor has it that LivingSocial is planning to lay off up to 400 employees tomorrow, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Sources aware of the daily deals company's plans told the Journal that the layoffs will be in U.S. offices and will include various positions and markets. Currently, the company has around 4,500 employees, according to its website, so the layoffs would decrease its staff by nearly 10 percent.

LivingSocial has tried to branch into other markets this past year to make up for its financial woes, which equaled a net loss of $566 million in the … Read more

HTC is getting into the daily-deals business in Europe.

The company today announced a new service, called Best Deals, that aims at delivering "money-saving deals" to those who own HTC smartphones. According to HTC, the service is launching on the One X+, as well as the Windows Phone 8X and 8S, in November. Best Deals will also come to the HTC One X and One S in a future software update.

In order to get the service off the ground, HTC has partnered with a host of deals providers, including LivingSocial, which will deliver offers through Best Deals … Read more

eBay is attempting to carve out a piece of Groupon's action with its own daily deals special.

Dubbed Lifestyle Deals, the new service is being tested in several cities across the U.S., including New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. And it works much like the daily deals offered by Groupon.

eBayers in one of the participating cities can choose from a variety of deals each day. New Yorkers who spend $19 can win a walking tour of Central Park. Those in San Francisco can get their dogs walked for a full hour for just $12. And … Read more

Woot founder and CEO Matt Rutledge resigned today from Amazon, saying that he didn't fit in at the giant online retailer, which bought his daily deal site two years ago.

Rutledge launched the Texas-based Woot.com in 2004, selling just one item per day until it sold out. The items that were sold were mainly tech-related, including computers, digital cameras, and various toys. The company later expanded into other areas, including wine, user-designed T-shirts, and products for children.

Rutledge said his goodbye to the Woot team in the honest, witty manner that the site as become known for:

Father's Day is coming up on Sunday. What's the ultimate gift for a dad who has a little one on the way? Relieve him of the burden of the baby name selection process, provided mom is willing to go along.

The mechanism for achieving this comes from the unlikely source of Groupon. The self-proclaimed "World's Foremost Authority in Baby Naming" will name your baby Clembough. Yep, Clembough. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. Clembough is what you're getting.

Even better, this deal costs $1,000. Groupon isn't paying you for naming rights, you are paying it for the name Clembough. Let's savor that for a moment. It doesn't really roll off the tongue. It could be pronounced Clem-baw or Clem-bow. Maybe it's a combination of Clem Burke (drummer for Blondie) and "bough," the word for a tree limb.… Read more

Hold the canned laughter, it's true -- Groupon is the focus of a new sitcom.

CBS has just ordered the sitcom for next season, and it's about two friends who moved to Los Angeles to work at Groupon, according to Vanity Fair. (Disclosure: CBS owns CNET.)

"Friend Me" is the name of the TV show, which is sure to kick up some controversy with social-networking giant Facebook. Just a couple of months ago Facebook revised its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities saying that account holders cannot use the word "Book" because it will be … Read more