Groupon time...and the LivingSocial is easy.

A quick word to you, Mr and Ms Restauranteur - Small Business Owner - Shopkeeper, before I power down for the night. Very soon, some young gun is gonna knock on your door.

He will work for Google. Or Groupon. Or LivingSocial.

He (or she) will want to add your business and all its details to their growing database. They will seek to sell you on the benefits of their service, on group buying, social buying, mobile shopping. They will promise you the world. And move on to the next stop.

For now, they need you more than you need them.You're a mere cog in a war for capitalization and/or acquisition and/or IPO. A few bits in an infinitely scalable database of businesses, search strings and (non) real-time recommendations.

Don't give it away for free.

Oh, and when they do stop by, I want you to post every detail about them and their interaction with you on the web. Preferably here, on my site. Thanks.