Net Briefs: Bring on the Deals

Just when the darling Daily Deal industry was starting to attract scrutiny from critics, aggregating service Yipit reported that September 2011 was an historic month for the industry. Released in mid-October, the Yipit Data Report revealed that total industry gross revenue jumped 12 percent from an estimated $238 million in August to $267 million in September. Groupon, which has come under fire for its “creative” accounting practices in anticipation of an IPO, saw its gross revenue grow by 6 percent to $143.4 million, suggesting a $1.7 billion annual run rate. The biggest September winner in terms of growth, however, was LivingSocial, whose gross revenue jumped 32 percent from $44.9 million to $59.3 million, giving it an annual run rate of $708 million.