Is Google close to making a bid for Twitter ? Yes, according to a report from TechCrunch, though neither company has made an official announcement.Google declined to discuss the issue. "We don't comment on rumor or speculation," Google spokesperson Rachel Nearnberg told the E-Commerce Times.
Twitter cofounder Biz Stone ducked the issue, telling the E-Commerce Times that he'd already addressed it on the company blog. "Our goal is to build a profitable, independent company and we're just getting started," he says in a post.
Though it's managed to kick up a lot of publicity and attract many users, Twitter has yet to make money. Still, it's growing rapidly, and there has long been speculation that its backers are pressing it to turn a buck or two.
Hungry Eyes
Two people close to the situation said Google is in late-stage negotiations to acquire Twitter and that the price will be more than the US$250 million valuation Twitter saw in its latest round of funding in February, according to the TechCrunch report.
That's not going to happen, Greg Sterling, founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, told the E-Commerce Times. "On 'The Colbert Report,' Biz Stone talked about expanding Twitter and growing it to a global network," Sterling said. "He also said he wants Twitter to be a strong, independent company."
For example, YouTube has more searches than Yahoo does, Sterling said. "That kind of thing is what Google would look to pre-empt."
On Thursday, Twitter announced new features and adjustments it's making to its search capabilities.
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