Report: Google Acquires Deal-a-Day Hub Groupon

Google has plunked down $2.5 billion to acquire Groupon, the deal-of-the-day discounting Web site, according to an anonymously sourced report.

If accurate, the deal would mark one of Google's biggest acquisitions of the year, and also make good on recent, persistent rumors that Groupon would be acquired by a Silicon Valley behemoth.

The deal was reported late Sunday by the news site Vator.tv, which cited an "unnamed insider" as having spoken with Vator to confirm the acquisition. Neither Google nor Groupon has confirmed a deal, but Vator's report was quickly picked up by the blogosphere late Sunday and early Monday morning. Vator further reported that the buy was for $2.5 billion.

Earlier this year, All Things Digital reported on a potential acquisition of the site by Google search rival Yahoo for $1.7 billion. All Things Digital's Kara Swisher named Google as a potential suitor for Groupon back on Nov. 19, also reporting that Groupon had rebuffed Yahoo's takeover offer weeks earlier.

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Groupon, founded in Nov. 2008, claims 20 million subscribers across 30 countries. Several sources have reported its monthly revenues to be in the ballpark of $50 million.

Google has been on an acquisitions tear for much of the past year. By the summer, it had already acquired nine companies.