Google in talks to buy YouTube, reports say

Bobbie Johnson

The internet giant Google is in talks to acquire the popular video sharing website Youtube, according to press reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the search engine site was in sensitive discussions over a possible $1.6bn (£855m) buyout of the video site. Quoting sources familiar with the issue, the Journal claimed the talks could easily break down at any stage.

Founded just 18 months ago in California, YouTube is believed to have held discussions with a number of different companies over a possible takeover - although the founder and chief executive, Chad Hurley, has previously said that it is not for sale.

Despite such protestations, many see the site, which has rocketed to be one of the world’s biggest and delivers more than 100m videos each day, as being ripe for acquisition. However, there are concerns over possible legal action, particularly after Universal, the world’s largest record label, last month publicly threatened to sue YouTube over copyright infringement.
Although Google is just the latest in a string of companies linked with the video site, speculation about a possible link emerged yesterday after Michael Arrington, the editor of the influential Silicon Valley blog Techcrunch, said he had received wind of possible talks.

“I got an email tonight about a possible Google acquisition of YouTube that may be in the final stages before closing. Rumored price is $1.6 billion,” he wrote yesterday. “A quick phone call to a VC confirmed that the rumor is circulating (he also confirmed the price), but that is far from confirmation that this deal is happening.”

A spokeswoman for Google said the company refused to comment on any speculation, and YouTube was unavailable for comment.

The Journal recently claimed that Yahoo was on the verge of buying the social networking site Facebook, run by the 22-year-old college graduate Mark Zuckerberg, for a figure of around $1bn. As yet no further evidence of a possible link between the two companies has emerged.