On Thursday, Groupon — the popular location-based coupon service — filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The start-up, which alerts 83 million email subscribers in 43 different countries of local deals that range from restaurant discounts to sailing lessons, hopes to raise $750 million in its IPO. “Expect us to make ambitious bets on our future that distract us from our current business,” Andrew Mason, Groupon’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Some bets we’ll get right, and others we’ll get wrong, but we think it’s the only way to continuously build disruptive products,” Mason added. Groupon launched in November, 2007, has more than 7,000 employees, and reported $645 million in revenues during Q1 2011. Hit the break for a letter from Mason that was included with the company’s filing.

Dear Potential Stockholders,

On the day of this writing, Groupon’s over 7,000 employees offered more than 1,000 daily deals to 83 million subscribers across 43 countries and have sold to date over 70 million Groupons. Reaching this scale in about 30 months required a great deal of operating flexibility, dating back to Groupon’s founding.

Before Groupon, there was The Point—a website launched in November 2007 after my former employer and one of my co-founders, Eric Lefkofsky, asked me to leave graduate school so we could start a business. The Point is a social action platform that lets anyone organize a campaign asking others to give money or take action as a group, but only once a “tipping point” of people agree to participate.

I started The Point to empower the little guy and solve the world’s unsolvable problems. A year later, I started Groupon to get Eric to stop bugging me to find a business model. Groupon, which started as a side project in November 2008, applied The Point’s technology to group buying. By January 2009, its popularity soaring, we had fully shifted our attention to Groupon.

I’m writing this letter to provide some insight into how we run Groupon. While we’re looking forward to being a public company, we intend to continue operating according to the long-term focused principles that have gotten us to this point. These include:

We aggressively invest in growth.

We spend a lot of money acquiring new subscribers because we can measure the return and believe in the long-term value of the marketplace we’re creating. In the past, we’ve made investments in growth that turned a healthy forecasted quarterly profit into a sizable loss. When we see opportunities to invest in long-term growth, expect that we will pursue them regardless of certain short-term consequences.

We are always reinventing ourselves.

In our early days, each Groupon market featured only one deal per day. The model was built around our limitations: We had a tiny community of customers and merchants.

As we grew, we ran into the opposite problem. Overwhelming demand from merchants, with nine-month waiting lists in some markets, left merchant demand unfilled and contributed to hundreds of Groupon clones springing up around the world. And our customer base grew so large that many of our merchants had an entirely new problem: Struggling with too many customers instead of too few.

To adapt, we increased our investment in technology and released deal targeting, enabling us to feature different deals for different subscribers in the same market based on their personal preferences. In addition to providing a more relevant customer experience, this helped us to manage the flow of customers and opened the Groupon marketplace to more merchants, in turn diminishing a reason for clones to exist.

Today, we are pursuing models of reinvention that would not be possible without the critical mass of customers and merchants we have achieved. Groupon NOW, for example, allows customers to pull deals on demand for immediate redemption, and helps keep merchants bustling throughout the day.

Expect us to make ambitious bets on our future that distract us from our current business. Some bets we’ll get right, and others we’ll get wrong, but we think it’s the only way to continuously build disruptive products.

We are unusual and we like it that way.

We want the time people spend with Groupon to be memorable. Life is too short to be a boring company. Whether it’s with a deal for something unusual, such as fire dancing classes, or a marketing

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On Wednesday Delivery.com — the popular food delivery service — launched a dedicated iPhone application. It offers a bunch of useful features, including a “nearby” feature to find restaurants that deliver nearby, automatic sync with your account, the ability to filter for cuisine, distance, or rating, and more. Users can check out using a debit card, gift card, or credit card, although we suspect that cash-on-delivery is still an option, too. The application is free in case you’re ever looking for McDonald’s delivery in NYC — yes, we’ve done that.

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Wirefly this month unveiled a new service option for its popular mobile backup service. Mobile Backup PRO, which is compatible with the Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, affords subscribers a host of functionality not available with the standard free service. For starters, PRO subscribers get either 10GB or unlimited storage for music, photos, videos, and any other data backed up using the service, depending on the subscription option they choose. Free subscribers only get 2GB of storage. For added value, PRO subscribers can also use the service to locate their phone remotely using the device’s GPS, lock and unlock their phone remotely, display a message on the phone’s display, sound an alarm on the phone, and completely erase the phone’s memory remotely. Wirefly’s full-featured backup and remote security solution costs $2.99 per month or $30 annually for one phone and one computer with up to 10GB of storage. $5.99 or $60 annually grants users unlimited storage for up to five phones and one computer. Both plans feature a free 30-day trial for users who enter the code “WMBPRO.”

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A new series of emails were made public on Monday as a result of Skyhook Wireless’ lawsuit claiming Google interfered with a contract the LBS company had in place with cell phone maker Motorola Mobility. The emails, which were sent to and from numerous top executives at Google including CEO Larry Page and SVP of Mobile Andy Rubin, detail the company’s shock at losing out to Skyhook. The internal emails also reveal Google’s admission that Skyhook’s location product is better and more accurate than its solutions, and scratch the tip of the iceberg regarding how Google seemingly used its muscle to squash Motorola’s deal with Skyhook. Hit the break for screen shots of a few of the emails, and hit read link for a collection of what may be the most interesting emails of the bunch.

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The “is Android open?” question is one that constantly fades in and out of focus on blogs and in the tech media. The latest snippet that will undoubtedly reinvigorate the argument was revealed this past weekend, and this time it’s not a pretty one for Google. As part of Skyhook Wireless’ lawsuit against Google, which alleges that the company interfered with a contract that placed its services on Android phones sold by Motorola, several internal emails have been made public by a Massachusetts state court. Collectively, the emails provide various insights into the business strategies employed by Google’s Android team. One email in particular, however, is attracting a great deal of attention. In it, Android Open-Source & Compatibility Program Manager Dan Morrill writes, “we are using compatibility as a club to make them do things we want.” In other words, we’re brought right back to the earlier revelation that Android partners can do whatever they want with the platform, but only those that play ball with Google’s compatibility requirements get preferential treatment, such as early access to new Android builds. Of course this time, the sentiment comes straight from the horse’s mouth in a relatively gruff manner, which doesn’t exactly do a service to Google’s repeated “open” claims.

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AT&T on Monday announced ShopAlerts, a new mobile advertising service that will introduce location-based ads to the AT&T wireless network. The service, developed by AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions and Placecast, will serve advertisements and special offers to subscribers’ cell phones when they are in the vicinity of a participating retailer. Initially, the service is only being offered in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. “We are proud to take mobile marketing into the future with this unique offering that is being embraced by consumers and brands alike,” said Greg McCastle, senior vice president of AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions, in a statement. “ShopAlerts by AT&T enables brands/advertisers to help link consumer engagement with activation and ultimately to the point of sale.” The ShopAlerts service will be opt-in, meaning AT&T subscribers must elect to receive ShopAlerts ads before any related advertisements or deals will be delivered to their devices. AT&T’s full press release can be found after the break.

AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions Launches ShopAlerts by AT&T, a Groundbreaking Location-Based Marketing Service Featuring Special Offers from Leading National Brands

Innovative opt-in service enables marketers to engage consumers on their mobile phones and drive them to the point of sale with relevant location-specific offers

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 — AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions and Placecast today announced an agreement to provide ShopAlerts by AT&T, which are special offers delivered to consumers via their mobile phones when they are near a participating store or brand. The unique location-based mobile messaging service will be available for AT&T* customers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco who have opted-in to receive such messages. AT&T is the first U.S. mobile carrier to offer a large-scale, location-based mobile marketing program to consumers and advertisers.

The innovative ShopAlerts by AT&T service will provide consumers with valuable offers, rewards, and coupons based on their specific geographic location. AT&T creates a “geo-fence” – a virtual-perimeter around a retail location, event, or any geographic area – in order to deliver appropriate location-specific messages.  Participating consumers receive relevant marketing messages when they are inside a geo-fence, benefiting both consumers and marketers.

The messages are enhanced with information such as weather, traffic, and local shopping area details to more effectively engage consumers.  Numerous companies have recognized the value of the ShopAlerts by AT&T service, and the initial presenting sponsors will be HP, Kmart, JetBlue, SC Johnson, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Nature’s Recipe and the National Milk Mustache “got milk?” Campaign.

“We are proud to take mobile marketing into the future with this unique offering that is being embraced by consumers and brands alike,” said Greg McCastle, senior vice president of AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions. “ShopAlerts by AT&T enables brands/advertisers to help link consumer engagement with activation and ultimately to the point of sale.”

“Kmart has embraced technology to enhance our customer’s experience and maintain our value proposition,” said Mark Snyder, chief marketing officer of Kmart. “ShopAlerts allows us to deliver this value directly to our customers through innovative technology.”

Katie Thompson, associate director of digital media of JetBlue, notes that ShopAlerts is a clear fit for many advertisers, including beyond just those with brick and mortar locations. “We were excited about the opportunity because it takes the onus off of the advertiser to build a large database of opt-in users that the true power of the technology can be harnessed,” said Thompson.

Pioneering Location-based Technology and Media

The program combines the location-based technology platform and expertise of San Francisco-based Placecast with AT&T’s large subscriber base, outstanding Web and mobile media properties, and strong relationships with national advertisers and media buyers. The initiative marks the first time a major operator in the U.S. is introducing such a program at scale.

“At HP, we are continuously implementing innovative new marketing platforms that will resonate with our customers’ mobile lifestyles,” said Tariq Hassan, vice president, Worldwide Marketing and Communications, Imaging and Printing Group, HP.  “ShopAlerts by AT&T service enables us to deliver relevant, location-based content to our customers.”

“Placecast is excited to work with AT&T to deliver a new generation of opt-in marketing services focused on delivering relevant messages to consumers when they are in a mindset to make a purchase. Retailers and subscribers alike benefit from messages with tailored offers available nearby, based on their trusted relationship with AT&T,” says Alistair Goodman, CEO of Placecast.

Customers in participating markets can visit the customer portal and opt-in at www.att.com/shopalerts.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Yobongo, if you haven’t heard, is a new iPhone app that meshes location-aware messaging with a chatroom-like environment, and it’s kind of amazing. By using a custom algorhytm and different variables including your location, people you have chatted with previously, or even people you know, Yobongo connects you with up to around 10 people in a single “room” and well, from there it’s one big conversation. I’ve been using Yobongo for around a week, and while the beta test didn’t use our location to work (there was most likely no one nearby since the service hasn’t launched yet), it’s a pretty incredible experience. For starters, the UI is beautiful, well thought out and extremely polished, and it’s minimalistic enough without being bare. Using the app is very straight forward — you just open it and you’re instantly placed into a room using the aforementioned data points. Messaging is very fast, almost real-time, and that’s something co-founder Caleb Eston aimed to achieve; Yobongo’s big vision is that it’s a communication system that leverages location in such a way that hasn’t been done before, we don’t believe. The iPhone app launches for free in early March in the App Store, though you can sign up now to be put on the wait list on Yobongo’s website. Hit the break for a video of the app in action.

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Apple released its first developer build of iOS 4.3 on Wednesday and needless to say, developers have been on a treasure hunt ever since. We compiled a list of new iOS features last night, but an interesting one popped up early this morning. The forthcoming addition, found buried in the iOS code, is called “Find My Friends.” The purpose of the service is unknown for the time being, but the code suggests that it is tied to MobileMe. The name of the forthcoming feature obviously leads us to believe that Apple plans to add location sharing to MobileMe, likely in line with Google Latitude, which allows users to broadcast their locations to friends. More details will surely follow as new iOS 4.3 beta builds are released.

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Navteq, a mapping and navigation solutions company owned by Nokia, has acquired California-based Trapster according to a Reuters report. The somewhat controversial move suggests that future navigation solutions from Nokia might integrate Trapster’s product. Trapster provides a location-based service that alerts motorists equipped with its iOS or Android app when they approach known police speed traps. The company’s speed trap location data is completely user-generated, and the service claims to currently have 9.4 million users. The purpose of the service, in a nutshell, is to help users disobey traffic laws without getting caught. It then further endangers users along with the pedestrians and motorists around them by encouraging people to divert their attention from the road to manually report speed traps they pass during their travels. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 9,479 fatal traffic accidents in the U.S. in 2009 involving speeding, resulting in 10,591 deaths.

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Remember Google Latitude — Google’s location-based social network that allows users to easily share their locations with friends? Yeah, neither did we… at least not until Google’s new iOS app popped up over the weekend. Google Latitude is half-baked at best, though we imagine once Google launches a social network that doesn’t flop, Latitude will probably be folded in to add the LBS element. For the time being, all the service really does is share your location with friends (and Google’s data bank). No added value, no special features — just location sharing. The app supports background updating as well, so if you’d like to trade battery life for the ability to be stalked with alarming accuracy, Latitude is good for that as well. Google Latitude for iOS is available immediately in the App Store, and is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad and iPod touch (third and fourth generations).

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Facebook today announced the introduction of its mobile platform. The purpose of the project is to provide a social environment for mobile devices that will eventually mirror the company’s dominant Web-based platform. The initial mobile platform involves a number of projects across a variety of mobile operating systems — including iOS, Android and BlackBerry — and it will allow developers to more easily expand their Facebook products beyond the desktop environment.

Platform announcements made today include:

•Single Sign-On — quick easy log-ins from mobile apps on mobile devices
•Location APIs — allows any mobile app to access Facebook location services
•Deals Platform — location-based platform for local businesses to offer deals to nearby Facebook users

Facebook is updating its Android product immediately to include support for Single Sign-On and other new features, and its iOS offering will be updated next week.

Could there possibly be a better way to introduce the world to an app that locates sex offenders? Antoine Dodson, who inadvertently earned a place in the Web video hall of fame as a result of the Internet phenomenon Bed Intruder Song, does his best to keep America’s children safe by introducing the world to Sex Offender Tracker. The mobile app makes users aware of local sex offenders using a nifty augmented reality interface that… Seriously, just hit the jump for the video and let Antoine tell you how it works.

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Google has introduced new location-aware advertising for iPhone and Android handsets. Advertisers will now have the ability to select a “location extension for display” option that will serve up their ads based upon a user’s GPS coordinates. Ads will appear within mobile applications and mobile browsers and will allow users to get mapping and contact information for businesses that are within the immediate area. This feature is pretty cool once you get over the creepiness of Google sending ads to you based upon your device, the context of your mobile usage, and now your location.

[Via Tech Crunch]

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Google came clean on its blog yesterday and admitted to accidentally collecting personal data while canvassing positioning data during Street View sweeps. The potentially damaging revelation came after the data protection authority (DPA) in Hamburg, Germany requested Google’s Street view data due to privacy concerns. An internal review of the collected data revealed that the software Google was using to compile and map SSID’s was also recording a portion of the of data that was being transmitted from those same Wi-Fi routers.

For those that unaware of the practice, Google Street View and other companies that provide Wi-Fi-based Location based services will travel around cities and towns collecting publicly broadcast SSID information. These SSIDs are then stored in a database with their associated GPS co-ordinates. This SSID-GPS information is then used in Wi-Fi triangulation. To slightly assuage fears of a widespread privacy breach, Google confirmed that the flaw only recorded personal data from open, non-password protected WiFi routers. Regardless of the extent of the breach, this could potentially explode in the face of Google and other similar mapping companies that collect public information from personal Wi-Fi routers.

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Motorola is reportedly ditching Android’s built-in location services on much of its Android handset lineup and  replacing it with the location service code from Skyhook Wireless — a location services company out of Boston, MA. With its less than accurate positioning data, Google’s built-in system has been the bane of handset manufacturers and Android app developers alike. Rather than wait for Google to improve its location services, Motorola is turning to Skyhook, whose service uses a combination of Wi-Fi hotspot triangulation, cell tower triangulation, and GPS information to provide fast and accurate location information. With Skyhook on board, both built-in and third party apps like Twidroid, Yelp, and Foursquare will be able to report your location with pin-point accuracy. The technology is already in use by Apple in iPhones, iPads, iPod Touchs, and Mac OS X. Great news for all those stalkers location-based app users out there.

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