Analysts question business value of Groupon

Groupon has taken consumerism by storm in recent months, with its ability to decrease consumer expenses in a wide range of products. Recently, its surging popularity and whispers of an initial public offering later this year led the company to reveal details of a business valuation. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the company's value was priced between $15 billion and $25 billion. Financial analyst Sandy Smith told the Sun-Times that the business valuation resulted in such a high figure because Groupon commands the largest market share in "businesses that break new ground." The higher value comes after Groupon was originally priced at $6 billion in late 2010. Yet, the sizable difference in the year-over-year increase has some analysts questioning the accuracy of the new number, the Vancouver Sun reports. The paper reports that Groupon's valuation is another in a recent string of web-based giants that have released ratings reaching into the tens of billions of dollars. Groupon's value comes after Facebook was recently rated as a $75 billion company, Twitter was priced between $3.5 billion and $10 billion and Zynga was priced at approximately $10 billion.