Michael of TechCrunch fame is reporting that Google is in talks to purchase Digg for approximately $200 million.
(TechCrunch) Google’s on and off negotiations with Digg have been back on in a big way for the last six weeks, we’ve heard from multiple sources inside of Google, and the two companies are close to a deal that will bring Digg under the Google News property. The acquisition price is in the $200 million range, says one source. […]
The companies are now in final negotiations according to our sources, although it could be a couple of weeks before it closes.
Even though Google already has a social linking service, they are probably attempting to keep one of the internets hottest properties away from Redmond giant (who already run ads upon Digg).
While owning Digg will help the search engine giant compete against Yahoo Buzz (as well as Del.icio.us, a service Yahoo! acquired earlier), integrating it within Google News could help distinguish that property from upcoming rivals (like Topix.com).
Digg is a popular serviced used by millions of users around the world (note: especially geeks), although one may wonder if Google’s acquisition of Digg will cement its power even further online (not to mention kill of the countless Digg clones that have popped up over the last few years).
