Groupons and Adwords

One Internet marketing site that is getting a lot of buzz lately is www.groupon.com. Groupons are coupons that can be purchased during a one day period and are valid only after the group size meets or exceeds a preset limit. Once the limit is reached anyone who signed up for the deal gets charged and is sent a link where they can print the coupon. Groupons don't have to be used on the day they are purchased, but they will have an expiration date. That's what I was able to gleen from their FAQ page. Most of the Groupon examples on the site are for discounts of 50% or more.

The only problem I see at this point is that you can only list (and use) Groupons in about 45 major cities in the US. In order for a business to list a Groupon, they need to contact a market representitive at Goupon.com. The system isn't automated like Google Adwords or Ebay. They must have decided that having a marketing rep for each major city would be the best way to control who is listing and would maximize profits during the startup phase. Groupon.com gets a piece of each Groupon sold, so they have a vested interest in your success. It's a great concept, but you may have to wait a while before it gets to your city and with interest so high right now, good luck getting in touch with them.

I recently setup a new Google Adwords account, but I've had trouble with delays in getting the new ads approved. The ads are sitting in the dreaded "Pending Review" state. A search of the Internet shows that many other people are in the same boat and frustrations are running high. My old Adwords account is running well and I have not noticed any delays when adding or modifying ads. I did open the new account with a $100 coupon from Google, so I suspect they may have a lot of new customers who took advantage of that promotion. Other rumors are that Google has cut back on their ad approval staff. Google makes a lot of dough from their advertising system, so I'm surprised that this is happening. It just makes it that much harder for a Internet Marketing consultant like myself to deliver positive results.