Its called a personal anecdote. There is plenty of mounting empirical evidence of how bad groupon is, thus I dont feel I need to make a strong case on my personal opinion.

While I appreciate articles and analysis of their filings, revenue etc... I did not require it to make a gut feel for what was really going on.

Groupon has done an amazing job at what they do - even though history will tell how far they really go, I am free to express my opinion in whatever form that may take, however, and I have never felt they were seriously viable in the same way other tech giants of this era are. They are simply a coupon site which, based on direct information from business owners I know, requires said businesses to sell at a loss in the name of brand recognition/volume that groupon claims to bring - but has thus far fallen short of delivering the marketed value of their service.