Groublogpon – The Serious Blog of Groupon

Some people have noticed that we’ve been testing a slightly different “Groupons bought” counter on some of our deals. Instead of showing the exact number of Groupons purchased, the counter is now reduced by a random percentage that will change over time in a way that makes it impossible to see trending by counting the units.

Additionally, we are capping and rounding the counter from time to time. We now precede the Groupon count with the word “over” to reflect that the actual number is always actually larger than what’s being displayed.

So, why all the ambiguity? As customers, we like the counter because it indicates how popular deals are. But some clever people are using the counter to make (consistently incorrect) estimates of our total company sales, which we don’t like for the same reason you probably wouldn’t like if people tried to guess your weight all day. This change is meant to continue to reflect deal popularity while making it clearly impossible to predict our sales. We’re blogging about it to be transparent about our lack of transparency.

We began testing the new counter toward the end of September, and we expect it to be enabled for all deals within a few weeks.

Puppies wield a special power over humans. They can teach us kindness, responsibility, and how to win a hand of poker. We received an update from Rachel Cohen, CEO/Founder of Hand2Paw, about our  G-Team campaign we recently ran with them. Hand2Paw connects teenagers who are emerging from homelessness with volunteer opportunities at local animal shelters, selecting especially dedicated volunteers for six-week paid internships.

Photo by: Bridget Pizzo

We were happy to hear this news from Rachel:

With Groupon’s help, we were able to have three interns this summer–with money to spare for a few extra later this fall! Two of them now have paid jobs in the animal care industry with two partner businesses in the community. One works at a pet department store and one works at a local doggie daycare. They’re both doing extremely well at their new jobs and we’d like to thank Groupon for helping these kids get back on their feet.

In addition to building a connection with the social services they require to help them transition into independent adult life, Hand2Paw interns also receive guidance from mentors, a transportation stipend, and job training in one of a number of specialty areas such as kennel attendance, dog training, grooming, and assistance in the veterinary or surgical clinics.

You can read more about this organization’s efforts in a recent interview with Rachel in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Have a charity you’d like to see featured? Our G-Team continues to expand to more cities. You can find out more about them and submit your non-profit’s information HERE.