The increasingly competitive group discount and daily deal marketplace may be approaching saturation, judging by new data from Experian Hitwise which shows that market-leader Groupon saw total traffic tumble 50% between the second week in June and the third week in August. The question is whether this indicates growing group discount fatigue among consumers.

Sounds like the perfect time for Gannett to enter the market with "Deal Chicken."

It seems to me there are two real problems here:

(1.) People might, eventually, get sick of these deal programs, or at least hone in only on the tight niches that really excite them. (For instance, if someone offered a "Mac accessory of the day at half price" e-blast I might sign up for that one.)

(2.) The business model for Groupon is to get some other business to accept 25% of their regular price for a meal, product or service rendered. I don't think that's sustainable, and it's particularly disconcerting because the better it is as a marketing solution, the worse it is for the small business.

Echoing my sentiments back in 2007, I'd suggest small businesses avoid these crazy deal sites in the same essential way that I tried to warn people off of the mortgage-backed securities crazy just five years ago. *

*Note: I didn't actually do that. Had no idea, really.

Tribune aims to offer the tablet for free, or at a highly subsidized price, to people who agree to sign up for extended subscriptions to one of its papers and possibly a wireless-data plan with a partner cellular carrier, said five people briefed on the project.

Good idea... it remains to be seen if they can pull it off. But this does seem like it's the future for the newspaper industry (or, at least, *a* future for the industry). There's also some promise in digital paper (or flexible LED screens, whichever you want to call them) that could be the substance used to deliver the news. And, as the story notes, if it's a colossal failure, at least it will be an interesting one.

In Forbes.com's estimation, the iPad is actually being used for productivity purposes and, interestingly (to people who generate content for a living) for *paid content* applications. (That's as compared to the iPod/iPhone, where the bulk of paid apps are games.)

That's right. Content apps. That people are paying for. Hmmm. Could this actually be a revenue stream for print journalism? Would you pay for your daily paper again if it showed up every morning (or evening) on your snazzy little touchscreen display?