Amazon Poised to Make a Major Strategic Investment in LivingSocial to Counter Groupoogle (or Goopon?) Threat

With the red-hot acquisition dance between Google and Groupon sucking up all the attention, it's easy once again to ignore the No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space--LivingSocial.

But not everyone is.

According to sources close to the situation, the Washington, D.C.-based company that also focuses on local deals is in advanced talks for a major strategic investment--as high as $150 million--by online retail giant Amazon, at a very hefty valuation of over one billion dollars, to counter a possible Groupoogle challenge.

Laetitia Casta Claudette Ortiz Julia Stiles Marisa Miller AnnaLynne McCord