Hyperlocalnewssites regard Groupon and other daily deal services with a mixture of love (for flooding their coffers with ad dollars) and dread (for competing with their own deal offerings).
That point was driven home to Patch, the network of hyperlocalnewssites owned by AOL, when a contributor to its Fair Lawn, New Jersey site was arrested last week on charges of stalking.
Meanwhile, Patch, the network of more than 800 hyperlocalnewssites also overseen by AOL editor in chief Arianna Huffington, is also soliciting adolescent contributors from high schools and even middle schools as it seeks to recruit thousands of community bloggers.