Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments										2
Total revenue	$ 638,302	$ 568,552	[1]	$ 568,335	$ 559,283	$ 492,164	$ 430,161	$ 392,582	$ 295,523	$ 2,334,472		$ 1,610,430		$ 312,941
Segment Cost of Revenue and Operating Expenses										2,130,757	[2]	1,754,763	[2]	493,934	[2]
Segment operating (loss) income										203,715	[2]	(144,333)	[2]	(180,993)	[2]
Stock-based compensation										104,117		93,590		36,168
Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net										897		(4,537)		203,183
Interest and other income, net										(6,166)		(5,973)		(284)
Loss on equity method investees										9,925		26,652		0
Income (loss) before provision (benefit) for income taxes										94,942		(254,065)		(420,060)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes										145,973		43,697		(6,674)
Net income (loss)										(51,031)		(297,762)		(413,386)
Percent of total revenue, minimum for disclosure										10.00%
North America [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenue										1,165,700	[3]	634,980	[3]	200,412	[3]
Segment Cost of Revenue and Operating Expenses										1,025,974	[2]	630,184	[2]	210,849	[2]
Segment operating (loss) income										139,726	[2]	4,796	[2]	(10,437)	[2]
Stock-based compensation										65,100		75,800		7,500
Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net										(2,800)		800		204,600
International [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenue										1,168,772		975,450		112,529
Segment Cost of Revenue and Operating Expenses										1,104,783	[2]	1,124,579	[2]	283,085	[2]
Segment operating (loss) income										63,989	[2]	(149,129)	[2]	(170,556)	[2]
Stock-based compensation										39,000		17,800		28,700
Acquisition-related expense (benefit), net										3,700		(5,400)		(1,500)
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenue										$ 1,108,400		$ 586,700		$ 190,500

[1] Revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 included a $18.5 million one-time increase to third party revenue for unredeemed Groupons in Germany, which represented the cumulative impact of deals in that jurisdiction for which, based on a recent tax ruling, our obligation to the merchant would have ended prior to that quarterly period (i.e., prior to July 1, 2012). See Revenue Recognition in Note 2 "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies."

[2] Segment cost of revenue and operating expenses and segment operating income (loss) exclude stock-based compensation and acquisition-related expense (benefit), net. This presentation corresponds to the measure of segment profit or loss that the Company's chief operating decision maker uses in assessing segment performance and making resource allocation decisions. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, stock-based compensation expense was approximately $65.1 million, $75.8 million, and $7.5 million, respectively, for the North America segment and approximately $39.0 million, $17.8 million, and $28.7 million, respectively, for the International segment. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, acquisition-related expense (benefit), net was approximately a $2.8 million benefit, $0.8 million expense, and $204.6 million expense, respectively, for the North America segment and approximately a $3.7 million expense, $5.4 million benefit, and $1.5 million benefit, respectively, for the International segment. Acquisition-related benefit (expense), net for the North America segment includes gains and losses relating to contingent consideration obligations incurred by U.S. legal entities relating to purchases of businesses that became part of the International segment, which is consistent with the attribution used for internal reporting purposes.

[3] North America contains revenue from the United States of $1,108.4 million, $586.7 million and $190.5 million for the years ended 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. There were no other individual countries located outside of the United States that represented more than 10% of consolidated total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.