Do you think Yahoo can make a comeback in search? Let us know in the comments.

The company’s “Search Alliance” with Microsoft leaves plenty of questions about the company’s future in search, as well, but there are rumors going around that the deal may not play out as planned. We spoke with Kevin Ryan, the CEO of Motivity Marketing, who says that based on rumors floating around in the industry, the search alliance between Yahoo and Microsoft might not make its projected 10-year tenure.

“There’s a lot of rumors in the business that [it] isn’t going well, and that it’s not going to make the full-decade run,” he tells us. “So, if I’m Yahoo, I’m spending a little bit of money trying to figure out how we can get that search bucket going.”

When the agreement was reached, Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan spoke with us about the impact of the deal on each company. “[A] big win for Microsoft, a lot of questions for Yahoo,” he summarized.

“Yahoo effectively threw in the towel with search,” says Ryan of the alliance.

Despite the many reports on the struggling search alliance, David Pann, the General Manager of Search Networks at Microsoft, spoke with us last year and pointed out that the companies had already experienced success, even in its early stages.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Okay, well, you didn’t do this, you didn’t that – it’s a failure,’” Pann explained. “I don’t think of that. I think that, given where we are, and given the complexity of the relationship… we’re actually making very good progress.”

However, if the rumors are true and Yahoo does pull out of its agreement with Microsoft, the company will have to begin thinking about search again. The only other option would be to sell its search business completely.

According to Ryan, there are several instances that could be credited as catalysts for Yahoo’s downward sprial, but he believes its Panama search ad platform played a large role in beginning the downfall. Panama was Yahoo’s attempt to monetize search, as Google did, but instead, Ryan says it was an “abject failure” for Yahoo.

Ryan compares Yahoo’s current situation to what happened with Ask. The former search engine pulled out of the search industry in 2010 and has now transformed itself into a questions and answers service with an emphasis on mobile.

There are some who would likely consider Yahoo to be a former search engine as well. Yahoo is currently in the process of reinventing itself as a media company, but the company’s short-term leaders have had difficulty in making this transition. Ryan, however, doesn’t believe this particular attempt is the best option for Yahoo.

“Stop trying to reverse engineer HuffPo,” said Ryan, “and create something new.”

But, Yahoo’s performance as a media company has been nothing to shake a stick at, and for many, Yahoo’s homepage works very well as a portal to the Web. Just take a look at Yahoo’s realtime homepage view counter at any given day. So far today (at 8:30AM Pacific), the page has already seen over 73 million views .

Still, Ryan tells us that Yahoo should reinvest in its core business, in which search plays a very big role. With a renewed focus in this area, he believes Yahoo could better serve consumers and also advertisers, which could help it get back on the right track.

Ryan told us there could be opportunities for Yahoo in terms of social development. Both Google and Bing have yet to completely succeed in social, which leaves an open door for Yahoo. He believes that a renewed focus on search combined with the opportunities in social could help to begin to turn Yahoo around. In addition, Ryan would like to see Yahoo make drastic changes internally in order to streamline its processes and improve its culture.

“I hope that the change that Yahoo makes will be very internal,” he said. “I hope that the culture internally will become much more positive, but we’ll see.”

At this point, Ross Levinsohn is Yahoo’s interim CEO. Although some people believe he will become the permanent CEO, Yahoo has not indicated any official word for who its next leader will be.

It’s inevitable that changes will happen at Yahoo in the coming months, but what they will be and whether or not they will be effective in saving the company are both still in question. On the positive side, Yahoo was able to finally reach an agreement with Alibaba Group. The $7 billion deal will require Yahoo to sell back half its stake in the Chinese company, but it brings resolution to one of its many problems.

Do you think search should play a significant role in Yahoo’s future as a company? Share your thoughts in the comments.

G-Pass has been in beta since October 2011. It’s now rolling out at Ticketmaster venues in the U.S. and Canada that offer GrouponLive deals.

“G-Pass is a massive benefit to both box offices and event-goers, dramatically increasing the value GrouponLive delivers to the market,” says Groupon VP and GrouponLive General Manager, Greg Rudin. “We’re proud to launch it with our partner, Ticketmaster, who brings the value of G-Pass to an industry-leading set of venue clients.”

This isn’t the only news from Groupon this week, although it’s probably the more significant news. The other announcement was the launch of the Groupon Kidz Club, which can be used by parents to find kid-friendly deals and for kids to play games. The more interesting part, however, is the cast of characters Groupon came up with for the Kidz club.

Meanwhile, Groupon has been facing angry shareholders, upset over Groupon’s recent revisions to the company’s earnings release. The lawsuits have begun, and Groupon’s stock has been suffering.

Lawyers almost immediately began looking for complaints from shareholders. Now, one has officially been filed. PaidContent, which shares the following legal document reports that a man from Groupon’s hometown of Chicago has filed a suit.

The suit is class action, and claims to represent “all others similarly situated” – those that “purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Groupon between November 4, 2011 and March 30, 2012,” and “who acquired shares of Groupon commons stock pursuant or traceable to the company’s false and misleading Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with its November 4, 2011 initial public offering.”

The suit allegs that Groupon issued false and misleading statements regarding tis business practices and financial results, which it says were overstated in violation of GAAP. It says Groupon’s business was not growing to the extent represented and was not nearly as resistant to competition as suggested.

That’s just a sample. You can read the document above for the whole thing.

Meanwhile, the SEC is getting involved. It’s been reported that a preliminary probe has begun, though a formal investigation has yet to launch.

“In less than a year, Google Offers has grown from one to 40 cities across the country, giving people super-savings with daily deals for locally loved businesses and well-known national brands like Starbucks,” a Google spokesperson tells WebProNews.

If the half price deal isn’t good enough, there are other benefits to the Starbucks deal.

“For every deal purchased, Google Offers will donate $3 to the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) for the Create Jobs for USA Fund (up to $3 million),” explains Michael Haswell, Head of Business Development with Google Commerce. “Founded by Starbucks and OFN, the Create Jobs for USA Fund helps provide loans to community businesses in order to create and sustain jobs in America. So, when you buy this Google Offer, you’re also taking action to help Americans get back to work.”

The offer will be sent to Google Offers users by email.

Last month, Google Offers added 11 new partners, enabling it to receive offers from 8Moms, APDailyDeals, AT&T Interactive, Boston.com, DailyDeals.com, DoubleTakeDeals, Half Off Depot, Morgan’s Deals, Savored, Signpost, and Urban Dealight.

With the revisions, operating expenses were increased, reducing the company’s operating income by $30 million and its net income by $22.6 million. On news of the revisions, Groupon stock dropped. At the time of this writing, its at 16.27 -2.11‎ (-11.48%‎).

Groupon may even have some legal issues on its hands. At least, if there are any, they are being sought out. Shayndi Raice at The Wall Street Journal reports that lawyers began issuing releases, trying to get shareholders to contact them, right after Groupon made its announcement. Raice reports:

Lawyers said this weekend that if it is discovered that Groupon knew about the refund spike or the material weakness in internal controls when they filed their registration papers and went public in November – without disclosing that to investors – the company may be liable for the losses investors suffered since the disclosure Friday.

As a matter of fact, just as I was writing this, a release came through the wire from law firm Federman & Sherwood saying:

The law firm of Federman & Sherwood, a nationwide law firm specializing in securities, derivative and merger litigation, has initiated an investigation into Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) with respect to possible breaches of fiduciary duty by the company’s officers and directors, as well as violations of state law. More specifically, the company and its auditor found material weaknesses with the company’s reported revenue and earnings for the fourth quarter 2011, and therefore may have misstated earnings and revenue in its Annual Report. There is also speculation that the officers and directors of the company “rushed” the initial public offering.

If you purchased Groupon, Inc. shares between the IPO date of November 4, 2011 and March 31, 2012, have information to assist in our investigation, or have any questions or concerns regarding this notice or preservation of your rights, please contact our firm.

Groupon CFO Jason Child said in its announcement, “We remain confident in the fundamentals of our business, as our performance continues to highlight the value that we provide to customers and merchants.”

Groupon did confirm its Q1 guidance from the original earnings report. This includes expectations for first Q1 evenue of $510 million to $550 million and income from operations of $15 million to $35 million.

Operating expenses were also increased, reducing operating income by $30 million, net income by $22.6 million and earnings per share by $0.04.

“We remain confident in the fundamentals of our business, as our performance continues to highlight the value that we provide to customers and merchants,” said CFO Jason Child.

The company still confirmed its Q1 guidance.

Today’s release is below in its entirety:

Now, Greg Sterling at Marketing Land reports that Google is testing a new loyalty program called Google Offers With Rewards, that users can sign up for with their credit cards and get…rewards. He names 12 businesses in the Bay area, who are participating in Google’s trial, and shows some screen caps. One example, from Sonoma Chicken Coop, allows the user to make two purchases at the venue and get an $8 cash reward.

Sterling reports that to take advantage of the program, users would need to register a credit cards (Master Card is specifically being used in the trial, but it would be expanded to other cards, he says), and that there is an analytical element that would give merchants (and Google) more data about users, which could potentially be used in other kinds of Google ads down the line.

Groupon launched its Groupon Rewards loyalty in September, which lets consumers get special deals when they go to local businesses multiple times. The same basic concept. The main difference is that Groupon doesn’t have all of the different means to get deals and offers in front of people the way Google does.

Bing, Google’s main competitor in the search market, launched a punchcard loyalty program for its advertisers in September as well, along with its Deals hub.

The full list of cities where Google currently offers Google Offers includes: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, NYC, Oakland/East Bay, Oaklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, St. Paul, Tampa and Washington D.C.

Google Offers has been expanding a lot. I’m sure even Cleveland Steamer will be able to take advantage one day.

This time, it’s an investigation by the UK’s Office of Fair Trading, which is generally likened to the Federal Trade Commission here in the US. The OFT announced today that Groupon is changing its practices with regards to the investigation, which was opened last July. The investigation is now closed.

Here’s the official case description from the Office of Fair Trading:

OFT opened this investigation following complaints it received in relation to Groupon’s trading practices. As part of its investigation, OFT also considered concerns that have been raised by the Advertising Standards Authority (‘ASA’), in light of complaints the ASA received.

In December 2011, the ASA started to refer to OFT, complaints it received that were within the scope of OFT’s investigation. It will continue to refer such complaints to OFT over the next three months whilst Groupon improves its processes, after which, the ASA will resume investigating any complaints it receives.

Groupon responded to the OFT on its own Lifestyle blog, saying:

Frankly, we’re grateful that any time someone takes the time to give us feedback on how to better serve our customers. Many of their suggested changes were already underway, and the rest we will implement with haste.

Our commitment is this: we are going to get this right. We won’t stop until we are known for having the best customer service in the UK. And we appreciate your help in getting there. If you see ways that we can improve, or if you feel we aren’t living up to our end of the bargain, please let us know .

Groupon says it is making or has made improvements in the areas of: price/discount clarity, merchant capacity planning, deal “time remaining” clarity, errors in deal descriptions, substantiating marketing claims and the seven-day refund period.

Groupon says it now checks and rechecks reference prices (which discounts are based on) and makes sure that what is says is being offered is actually being offered. It also shows the sources for all of these.

With regards to merchant capacity planning, Groupon runs merchant businesses through a “capacity calculator” and consults with them to determine the appropriate limit, provides them with free online scheduling (with appointment booking), confirms with the merchants prior to promotion, and has now started an ongoing due diligence program with live and continuous checks based on customer/operational feedback throughout the various stages of the deal.

Groupon is also making changes that let it run offers for many time periods, including a 72-hour offer, and is updating its FAQs to explain time-remaining clocks.

The company says it is “beefing up” its quality control processes by doing credit checks on all merchants, fact-checking all offers before launching, confirming/agreeing to fine print of all offers with merchants, and emailing previews of offers to all merchants before being featured.

Groupon says it has established an internal compliance database to track claims that merchants want them to make when offers are described, and that it will continue to populate this database and provide extracts to regulators for compliance reporting. Interestingly, the company says its fact-check team confirms that all health and beauty claims are backed by scientific evidence, and that it is working with the Advertising Standards Authority on that.

Finally, Groupon has expanded its customer support so all callers can be answered, and says will continue to review customer support metrics to maintain “high levels of service”.

No word on whether or not controversial deals, such as a recent Milwaukee deal for a Jeffrey Dahmer tour, will be minimized.

Google kicked off a big sale to celebrate the launch, called 7 Days to Play, in which Googl eis offering a different album, book, video rental and Android app at a special price each day for the next week. Google Director of Digital Content Jamie Rosenberg writes on the Google Blog:

In the U.S., today’s titles include the collection of top 40 hits Now That’s What I Call Music 41, the popular game Where’s My Water, the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and the movie Puncture for just 25 cents each. In addition, you’ll find great collections of hip-hop, rock and country albums for $3.99 all week, detective novels from $2.99, some of our editorial team’s favorite movies from 99 cents, and our favorite apps from 49 cents.

Google’s already sending around an email campaign for the sale:

More on Google Play:

Google Play Incites Mixed Twitter Reaction

Offers let businesses and organizations share discounts with customers by posting offers to their Facebook Pages. Facebook describes them as coupons you don’t have to pay anything to create. When a customer claims an offer, they’ll get an email to show at the physical location for the brand to get a discount.

Facebook has a help center with guidelines for using Facebook Offers (hat tip to AllFacebook).

Under the “best practices” section, Facebook says it encourages businesses to experiment with offers to find out what customers respond to best, but suggests the following to have a better chance of success:

• Make discounts substantial. Discounts should be at least 20% off regular prices. Additionally, offering things for free performs better than discounts even if the percentage off is the same implied value of the free item.
• Keep it simple. Describe your terms and conditions as simply as possible, and don’t require customers to perform unusual activities.
• Use an engaging image. Photos of people using your product typically perform better than photos of your product by itself. Photos of your product perform better than your business’s logo.
• Keep language natural and direct. Make sure your headline leads with the value of the offer instead of marketing slogans. Avoid using unconventional capitalization or punctuation.
• Set a reasonable expiry date. Give people at least a few days to see and claim an offer. Take advantage of word-of-mouth promotion by allowing time for your offer to spread by word of mouth in people’s News Feeds.
• Promote your offer. Run sponsored stories and pin your offer to the top of your Page so new visitors notice it. We recommend sharing an existing offer instead of creating the same offer twice so it’s easier to track how many people are claiming it.
• Train your staff. Make sure your employees know the terms of your offer and how to help people redeem it. Some people will print out the offer while others might show the offer on their phones.

For now, Offers are only available to Facebook’s managed advertising clients. If this applies to you, you can go to your Page, and click “Offer” from the sharing tool at the top of you timeline.