A kind word from Oprah Winfrey temporarily brought the Internet's fastest-growing company ever to its knees on Friday morning.
The talk show demigod mentioned Groupon on her show this morning, specifically touting its current partnership with Kiva, a microfinancing company that offers small loans to low-income entrepreneurs around the world. She chose Kiva as one of her "Favorite Things" of 2010, and mentioned that $15 buys a $25 Kiva loan right now.
This, apparently, was too much for Groupon to bear.
The Chicago-based shopping deal site had been having issues all morning, and things apparently got worse after "Oprah" aired at 9 a.m. in Chicago.
On its Chicago Twitter feed, Groupon was busy apologizing for the slow page; staffers told FOX Chicago in an email that not even they could access the site.
Eventually, the site got back in order, although it is still struggling periodically as of 12 p.m. CST. The Kiva deal is still on; "Whether you give the credit as a gift or make the loan yourself, Groupon and supporting sponsors will add $10 to every $15 purchase, up to $500,000," the company writes.
If Oprah's got it on her Favorite Things list, we're guessing that $500,000 will be dried up in a hurry.