Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
1–10 of 54 posts
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#2Note to self: If I ever start a company that secures significant VC funding, immediately buy domains related to my company in all major markets and begin securing trademarks as well.
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#3As an Australian all I want to say is... just use the .com address. Call the company 'groupon.com' Advertise the .com. It will work!
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#4I wonder why they think a local domain is necessary for their business (and is it really). For example, Facebook doesn't use local domains - it uses .com for everything.
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#5As an Australian all I want to say is... just use the .com address. Call the company 'groupon.com' Advertise the .com. It will work!
I completely agree. I dont think not having com.au domain is that big a bottleneck. I would think that even grouponaustralia.com can work very well. Groupon already is geo targeting based on ip, so should not be that hard for them to get Australian market under way.
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#6Note to self: If I ever start a company that secures significant VC funding, immediately buy domains related to my company in all major markets and begin securing trademarks as well.
It's not always as simple as registering a domain name on GoDaddy or a local registrar though.
To register a .com.au domain name, you're required to have an Australian Business Number (i.e. incorporate locally). It's easy to get one, but how many other international domain names do you want to register that require extra work?
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#7What's wrong with using au.groupon.com?
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#8I wonder why they think a local domain is necessary for their business (and is it really). For example, Facebook doesn't use local domains - it uses .com for everything.
Couldn't agree more. Apple doesn't own apple.co.uk so they just use apple.com/uk and use geoip to make apple.com
(by default, can override country) redirect.
I don't know how australians perceive it but in the uk people wouldn't care or read anything into it if it was a .co.uk or a .com
Launching a completely different brand seems unnecessary and sub-optimal.
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#9If Groupon is heavily localised, what benefit is there to consumer if it's the official Groupon, the fake Groupon or another clone that's offering the deal, other than the clones not being a "brand name"?
I'm assuming that any Groupon clones would be able to sell to businesses just as well as the real Groupon.
Re: Why Groupon is not in Australia (domain squatter)
#10Domain squatters may not be OK, but identical business models are just another legitimate challenge (business models can't be patented). They need boots on the ground and it may not be possible for Groupon to physically get there before the competition. Either way, it's good for the end user, who will go from zero to several choices practically over night. It also prevents Groupon from becoming a monopoly.