Google/Twitter acquisition rumor goes down in flames

Paul Boutin — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:05:59 -0400

Is Google about to buy Twitter? The rumor mill has been buzzing for some time, but was given new fuel last night after a late-night TechCrunch report said two separate sources allegedly claimed Google was in "late stage negotiations" to acquire Twitter.

I don't believe it, for one simple reason: AllThingsD reporter Kara Swisher, legally married in San Francisco to Google exec Megan Smith, is jumping up and down to deny the story.

Why should I believe Swisher more than anyone else? Simple: Swisher, a notorious gossipmonger (that's a compliment) prides herself on being right and being first. If Google really does buy Twitter, she'll look like either an idiot or a stooge for her wife's company.

The Financial Times has an outsidery analysis of why the acquisiton doesn't make sense. Reporter Chris Nutall cites a source close to Twitter who called the rumor "fiction," probably an overblown presumption based on meetings between the two companies to talk about working together. In tech, those meetings happen all the time.

But I'm banking on Swisher's smackdown. It Google really were close to buying Twitter, she'd be the first to know.