Hitlist flattered by Groupon’s ‘identical twin’ Chrome extension

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, so travel inspiration start-up Hitlist is basking in the warm glow of a job well done.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, so travel inspiration start-up Hitlist is basking in the warm glow of a job well done.

The Hitlist app helps users to more easily find what they are looking for by proactively searching for options and destinations they and friends in their social networks are interested in.

As one of its many innovations, the firm has created a Wandertab for the Google Chrome browser.

This places travel options in front of Chrome users when they open up a new tab and before they start searching for what they are looking for.

With 8,000 installs the Wandertab has clearly piqued the attention of some large competitors, which might explain the startling resemblance to Groupon’s new browser extension:

See for yourself and spot the difference. The new Groupon extension is on the left, and original Hitlist Wandertab is on the right.

Gillian Morris, Hitlist founder, said that even if she was minded to challenge Groupon’s spot of corporate copycatting.

“It wouldn’t be our culture to do so. We’re trying to push this industry forward and prefer to outrun and out innovate rather than sue,” she said.

“It’s all in the execution, and if you look at their traction versus ours – under 300 installs versus over 8000 – it’s clear that we’ve built a product that seems to resonate more with users.

“We’re flattered and amused that they would do such a brazen ripoff. But they’re free to do what they like. We’ll continue to develop faster and hopefully better products.”