GOOGLE is in talks to buy internet start-up Twitter, the free micro-blogging service that allows people to send short text messages to a network of friends, it was reported last night.
The two companies are also considering working together on a Google real-time search engine, it was claimed.
Google would pay for Twitter in cash or shares or a combination of the two, according to the reports.
If the deal goes through, it wi
ll be the second between Google and the Twitter founders, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Google, which already owns YouTube, bought their site, Blogger, five years ago.
Michael Arrington, the proprietor of TechCrunch, the group-edited blog about technology start-ups, said Twitter's real value was in its "search" capacity.
"More and more people are starting to use Twitter to talk about brands in real time as they interact with them.
"Those brands want to know all about it, whether to respond individually or simply gather the information to see what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong," said Mr Arrington. "And all of it is discoverable at search.twitter.com, the search engine that Twitter acquired last summer."
TechCrunch said the price was likely to be "well, well north" of the $250-million (£169 million) valuation placed on Twitter in a recent round of venture capital funding.
California-based Twitter, has enjoyed a surge in popularity since its creation three years ago, despite the fact that it has yet to make any money.
A Google spokesman refused to comment yesterday, while a spokesperson for Twitter could not be reached immediately.
Mr Stone said last month that the company was eager to partner other companies, including Google, but was not considering a merger or buy-out.
Twitter turned down an offer to be bought by Facebook a few months ago for half a billion dollars, although that was based partially on overvalued Facebook stock.
