Facebook surrenders to Groupon, eliminates Deals program

Facebook announced in August 2011 that it is eliminating its Deals program, which aimed to compete with sites like Groupon. The Deals program was running for just four months and being tested in just a handful of cities in the United States. Users complained that Facebook’s Deals function was difficult to use, and with the dominance of other competitors the venture apparently wasn’t worth while.

For more on Facebook Deals, see the following videos:

Discussion Questions:

1.  How did Facebook Deals operate differently from Groupon? Why was it so difficult to use?

2.  Does this open up the field for Deals sites? Is Facebook out for good, or do you think it will come back with something else?