Groupon vs Grubhub

YourParkingSpace discusses shifting brand positioning

Larne O’Donoghue, a growth marketer at YourParkingSpace, describes moving the brand away from “painkiller” positioning toward a “gain creator” approach, outlines recent product launches (a fleet product) and an upcoming EV parking and charging initiative, and explains the company’s research-led, outcome-focused marketing organisation. He discusses using customer ridealongs and market research to define super-users, building custom tooling (a competitor-tracking tool) and applying AI to change workflows, and stresses linking marketing metrics to CFO-recognised financial outcomes.

• YourParkingSpace reports 15 million drivers and a 4.5 Trustpilot rating from over 105,000 reviews.
• YourParkingSpace has launched a fleet product enabling fleets of any size to integrate with its app and receive a single unified invoice.
• YourParkingSpace plans an initiative (launching in 2026) to help EV drivers find, navigate to, and pay for EV charging and EV-suitable parking spaces.

Investor Presentation Released: Groupon

AI parsed presentation narrative: Groupon is undergoing an 'AI-native' transformation through 'Project Foundry' to improve customer outcomes and operational efficiency. While Q2 2026 revenue was slightly down, management expects growth to accelerate in the second half of the year driven by a new consumer platform and improved personalization. Key tailwinds mentioned: AI-Native Transformation (Project Foundry), International Supply Expansion.

DoorDash launches AI agent for text-based food ordering

DoorDash introduced AI-powered ordering features on September 30, 2026, including a text-to-order agent for Apple Messages and an expanded text-based ordering beta (doordash.com/text). Users can order via conversational prompts, get recommendations, and handle group orders. The Apple Messages pilot is live with 20,000 U.S. consumers, with a broader waitlist. Additionally, DoorDash launched the DoorDash MCP for corporate ordering, enabling automated office restaurant orders and supply restocks. Grocery tools now offer one-tap cart rebuilding and automatic substitutions. In the first three months of Ask DoorDash, users discovered over 40,000 new restaurants, with nearly half of orders going to local businesses. Assistant-built grocery baskets were five times faster and had higher value. DoorDash also plans to test delivery drones in Northern California, intensifying competition with Uber Eats and Grubhub.

• DoorDash announced on September 30, 2026, AI-powered ordering features including a text-to-order agent for Apple Messages and a text-based ordering beta.
• The Apple Messages pilot is live with 20,000 U.S. consumers, with a waitlist for broader access.
• DoorDash launched the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to automate corporate restaurant orders and supply restocks.

FTC distributes $23.8M Grubhub settlement

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is distributing $23.8 million to 640,038 Grubhub drivers and customers after alleging the delivery company made misleading claims about driver earnings, restricted customers’ access to accounts and funds, and listed restaurants without consent. Payouts will be delivered mostly by mailed checks, with some recipients receiving funds via PayPal. The settlement requires Grubhub to revise its practices — including more accurate advertising of potential driver earnings, processes to challenge account restrictions, and obtaining restaurant consent before listing. The action follows a December 2024 lawsuit by the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General and comes shortly after a roughly $25 million settlement affecting about 60,000 California drivers received final approval.

• The FTC is distributing $23.8 million to 640,038 Grubhub drivers and customers.
• The payouts follow a lawsuit the FTC and Illinois Attorney General filed against Grubhub in December 2024 alleging deceptive practices.
• The complaint alleged Grubhub misled drivers about earnings, restricted customers’ access to accounts and funds, and listed up to 325,000 restaurants without their affiliation or consent.

OpenAI launches product carousels in ChatGPT ads

OpenAI has added a product-carousel ad format to ChatGPT that displays multiple products in a single placement at the bottom of user conversations, built from retailers' product feeds. While carousels currently surface items from a single retailer, the system supports showing multiple retailers side-by-side. OpenAI's ad platform automatically determines whether to serve a single-product ad or a carousel. Separately, an AppsFlyer integration lets roughly 40 brands (including Grubhub) attribute app installs, in-app purchases, and subscriptions to ChatGPT ads, though it does not measure incrementality. The rollout follows automation that enables retailers to bulk-create product-feed campaigns and includes guidance ahead of Q4 holiday spending. Together these moves create basic infrastructure for performance advertising on ChatGPT, even as advertiser control, measurement depth and scale remain open; reported ad-revenue targets include $2.5 billion for 2026 and $100+ billion by 2030.

• OpenAI launched a product-carousel ad format in ChatGPT that appears at the bottom of conversations and expands from single-product ads.
• Carousels and single-product ads are generated from retailers' product feeds; carousels currently show items from one retailer but the system can support multiple retailers side-by-side.
• OpenAI's ad platform decides whether to serve a single-product ad or a carousel rather than advertisers selecting the format.