After launching in 2008, the deal-of-the-day website Groupon experienced a rollercoaster of ups-and-downs and competition from an overwhelming number of other social buying sites.
Friday morning, Groupon was worth nearly $18 billion, as its stock prices began trading publicly -- under the symbol GRPN. This estimate makes Groupon the largest technology company to go public since Google did in 2004, according to the Associated Press.
From Groupon's worth of $1 billion after just 16 months in business, to the company's partnership with popular social websites such as Foursquare and eBay, here's a look at Groupon's major milestones in the past three years.