People say Google will buy Skype and Expedia and, and, and, and

The Reg plays telephone

By Cade Metz in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 4th April 2008 00:44 GMT

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If you believe the rumor mill, Google is on the verge of gobbling both Skype and Expedia.

On Tuesday, Michael TechCrunch Arrington decided that the world's largest search engine had an eye on Skype - which hasn't exactly meshed with eBay - and apparently, this was not an April Fools joke.

"Something big is brewing between Google and Ebay’s Skype, we’ve heard from multiple sources," Arrington wrote. "For weeks now there have been low level rumors of the two companies talking, but nailing down any details was difficult. New information, however, suggests that they are in current talks and that a partnership or outright acquisition may be announced in the near future."

Of course, Arrington is not always right about such things.

Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that Google has an eye on Expedia, America's largest online travel site, citing some financial research outfit. This financial outfit cited "unsubstantiated rumors."

This is the same Reuters that recently told the world Google was interested in buying CNET, citing another financial research outfit. This financial outfit also cited "rumors."

When we contacted Google, they said "Google does not comment on rumor or speculation."

We report all this only to see if someone will read it and report it again. ®

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