Media Criticism of Groupon Showing Signs of Fatigue

How many times can snarky self-satisfied writers (like this one) rehash the same points about how Groupon is taking it on the chin?

Well, every single day since the company's IPO has proven to be a Sisyphean undertaking for this endeavor -- first the company's stock was up, then it was down, and then the same sorts of problems were happening to the company as they were pre-IPO.

Well, guess what: Thursday is the day to change the tune, as the stock has actually climbed back above where it started. As of press time, it's at $21.72.

Is this the world's biggest victory? No. But it's at least inroads towards stability. But the headlines don't reflect that. The Street's Thursday story on Groupon is "just how sturdy is Groupon?" which analyzes a press release circulated by Daily Deal Media. So, how sturdy is Groupon? More or less.

But here's the situation that's never really changed in recent memory: Groupon was a media darling that expanded too quickly and has experienced what could diplomatically be called growing pains as it entered an IPO and is attempting to be a real grown-up company. It's a grown-up company run by twentysomething improvisers, eligible photogenic bachelors, and girls in nerd-glasses here, but it's also an international empire that realizes it has to change its game to stay competitive. It's been scooping up other companies and has recently launched a Facebook game-thing (that also was raked over the coals prematurely) which indicates Groupon is planning something big and secretive. Nobody knows what it is, so everyone is hammering on what they do know -- everything mentioned previously in this paragraph.

But for now, here's the deal: Groupon's stock is on the rise. So, people, quit hating. At least for one whole day.

Thanks.

David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a columnist for EGM. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.

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