Google, Groupon and The Take Over of The Internet? - UPDATED!

UPDATED AT BOTTOM

Do you know what Groupon is? If not than leave this site and go back to reading the newspaper. 

Yesterday, rumors began to stir in places like the New York Times say that Google is offering Groupon $5,000,000,000 - $6,000,000,000 to acquire the company. (Thats $5 - $6 billion) As I write this they are talking about it on NPR's Market Place.

Groupon is one of the coolest "new" ideas on the internet. "New" in that is a fairly new service, starting in 2008 and "new" in that although I'm sure someone could dig up a earlier version of its services, Groupon was the first that penetrated into as many markets as deeply as they have.

Ok, if you really don't know what Groupon is; its a group-buy type service wherein consumers buy a "groupon" that gives them access to some product or service at a significant discount, typical 40-50%. The group part plays in by the fact that we only get the groupon if enough people buy in.

Now, do you know who Google is? 

If you read here with any frequency you know that Angry Brady would tell you that they are the devil. 

I don't know about that. I typically don't subscribe to the demonization of really anything. I tend to doubt that any company or person is as evil as they can be portraited...

but...

I really don't want Google fucking up Groupon. I don't want Google or any one company in charge of every-fucking-thing I do online. I don't want to hear my kids refer to the whole of the internet as "Google" like my mom calls it "Facebook".

This acquisition will be the biggest Google has made yet, but I don't think it will really put a dent into their piggy bank. If they are ready and willing to spend that kind of jack to increase their long-term ad revenue potential, how far will they really go?

Is Craigslist or Wikipedia next? I read that Amazon might be. Or how about Microsoft, eBay? Not to mention all the european and asian service/sites that most of us are not even familiar with.

They have the resources and the greed to buy them all.

The question is, even though we are a free market and capitalist and all that, should we (Americans, Europeans and Asians, et al) let one company buy up all the innovation in the internet? Do we really want to have one company decide which sites we have access to, because obviously the potential take overs listed above are friendly, for-profit ones, there is nothing to say they couldn't buy up a site to later shut it down.

Yes, yes, I know that the SEC and the Justice Dept. have jurisdiction to prevent that, but only if the merger would constitute a monopoly, which in case you haven't noticed, they tend to let just about every merger go through.

So, what do you think? Do you want Google to control the internet?

UPDATE

On Friday, Groupon announced that it REJECTED Googles take-over offer and that it plans to remain an independent company. It may make an Initial Public Offering in 2011, but will wait until after the first of the year to make any such announcement. YAY! Suck it Google.

The Chief