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| Friday, October 06, 2006 |
Report: Google in Talks to Buy YouTube
Google in Talks to Acquire YouTube for $1.6 Billion
Internet search leader Google Inc. is in talks to acquire the popular online video site YouTube Inc. for about $1.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Mountain View-based Google and San Mateo-based YouTube are still at a sensitive stage in the discussion, the newspaper reported on its Web site.
The blog TechCrunch had reported on rumors of the acquisition talks. Representatives from Google and YouTube did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press.
Founded in February 2005 by three former employees of eBay Inc.'s PayPal electronic-payment unit, YouTube is surging thanks to the increased availability of high-speed Internet connections and gadgets such as camera phones and digital cameras capable of taking video. Most of YouTube offerings are short amateur clips, although professional filmmakers, television networks and even political campaigns have posted materials.
YouTube users watch more that 100 million videos daily, and the site's market share tops that of similar services offered by Google and other popular Web sites, according to some research firms.
Google's video service lets everyday users post clips, too, and unlike YouTube, Google also gives them the choice of selling video. All YouTube clips are free.
When rumors circulated earlier this year that some major media companies were interested in buying YouTube, the company's chief executive, Chad Hurley, said the company was not for sale and a future initial public offering was possible.
Shares in Google rose $1.36 to $413.17 in midday trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. |
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