The idea behind DiscountReactor came from our own experience with online shopping. Back in 2012, my business partner and I noticed something interesting. Almost every online store had a promo code field at checkout, but finding a code that actually worked was surprisingly difficult. We started exploring coupon websites and quickly became frustrated. Many of them were filled with expired codes, misleading discounts, or promotions that weren’t really special offers at all. We saw an opportunity to do things differently. Our initial approach was simple: focus on actual promo codes rather than filling pages with questionable deals. In the beginning, we added every code manually. We tested the codes ourselves, documented the conditions, and explained how to use them. That experience shaped our approach to the business. We believe that providing a smaller number of reliable, well-documented offers is more valuable than overwhelming users with hundreds of questionable discounts. Our goal has always been to help people save money without wasting their time.

Search engines have always played a central role in the coupon industry. The typical customer journey is straightforward: someone is shopping online, reaches the checkout page, notices a promo code field, and searches Google for the store’s name followed by "promo code." That’s how most people discover coupon websites. When we started, our main acquisition strategy was SEO. We focused on making our pages visible to people actively searching for discounts. Initially, we concentrated almost entirely on collecting promo codes, with very little additional content. That approach worked for a while, but it eventually led to one of our biggest early setbacks. Google penalized our website for having insufficient content, and we lost a significant portion of our organic traffic. That experience changed our approach. We began investing much more heavily in useful content, detailed offer descriptions, and the overall user experience. Organic search remains an important acquisition channel for our business today, although the way people discover information online is changing rapidly.

One of our biggest lessons came just three or four months after launching our first coupon project. Everything had been going extremely well. Our traffic was growing steadily, and we were excited about the results. Then, almost overnight, we lost approximately 85% of our organic traffic because of a Google penalty. For a young business, that was a painful experience. Looking back, our biggest mistake was relying too heavily on search traffic while underestimating the importance of quality content. But that setback also became a turning point. We made two important changes. First, we shifted our focus toward content quality, verified promo codes, and user experience. Instead of simply collecting offers, we wanted to create something genuinely useful. Second, we realized the importance of diversification. We began exploring additional markets rather than putting all our eggs in one basket. These decisions helped us build a stronger business. In some markets, including Ukraine, our focus on content quality and reliable promo codes helped us become a market leader. The biggest lesson was that sustainable growth comes from creating real value for users, not just chasing traffic.

The biggest change in our industry has been the transformation of search engines, particularly Google’s move toward zero-click search experiences. Traditionally, users searched for a promo code, visited a coupon website, and found the information they needed. Today, Google increasingly provides answers directly in its search results, sometimes displaying promotional offers without requiring users to visit the original website. AI-powered search is accelerating this trend. We’re seeing the impact firsthand. Over the past year, our search impressions have roughly doubled, while the number of clicks has remained almost unchanged. In other words, our content is becoming more visible in search, but that additional visibility isn’t translating into proportional traffic growth. This creates a significant challenge for publishers and coupon aggregators. Our response has been to focus even more strongly on the quality and reliability of our information. We currently manage a database of more than 100,000 promotional codes. Keeping that database accurate requires continuous monitoring, verification, updates, and removal of expired or invalid offers. It’s a complex task, but we believe that reliable information and a good user experience are essential to remaining relevant as search technology continues to evolve.

If someone asked me whether they should start a traditional coupon aggregation website today, my advice would be to think very carefully before entering this market. The industry is going through a major transformation, and its long-term outlook is increasingly uncertain. Changes in Google’s search policies, the rise of AI-powered search, and the growing number of zero-click interactions are making traditional coupon aggregation a much more challenging business model. I wouldn’t recommend building another website that simply collects promo codes and relies on Google to bring in visitors. If I were starting today, I would first look for a way to provide additional value that users cannot easily get from a search engine or an AI-generated answer. That might mean developing a new shopping tool, solving a specific customer problem, or creating a service that gives people a compelling reason to return directly. I would also avoid building a business that depends entirely on a single traffic source. My advice is simple: don’t start with the question of how to attract traffic. Start by asking why users would choose your product, trust it, and come back.