Groupon purchases advertiser’s brand name for Adwords campaigns. The problem with this is that they are promoting discounts to individuals who were already looking for your business. In turn, customers are pulled away from your businesses website.
The rationale for using Groupon is that you are reaching audiences who are not familiar with your business.
The situation gets even worse when you consider that even when you don’t have a current deal with Groupon, they will see do Adwords campaigns using your business name, showing a discount offer.
When users click on a click to your supposed deal on Groupon, they will see you don’t have a deal. Instead the page could direct them to check out competitor’s deals.
When we contacted Groupon about this, they replied with the following message:
Thanks for reaching out to Groupon Merchant Services.
Pursuant to your agreement(s) with us, Groupon is permitted to advertise and promote your deal, both when the deal is live and also after it expires. We acknowledge your request, but Groupon has decided to maintain the promotion in question. Thanks for your anticipated understanding and cooperation.