October 9, 2006
Rumour Mill : Google-Youtube deal how it all started and how is it going in circles
The chronology of Google/YouTube deal rumour
October 6 2006 Techcrunch has a post titled Completely Unsubstantiated Google/YouTube Rumor about the possible acquisition of YouTube by Google based on an Email which was confirmed later on by some VC. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch claims the source on this one to be really good and puts a 40% probability of deal going through.
October 6 2006 Wall Street Journal reports about the deal based on the above post from TechCrunch.
October 6 2006 TechCrunch now has a post titled WSJ reports Google and YouTube are in acquisition talks
Then over the weekend this news started appearing on almost every news site and blog based on TechCrunch and WSJ reporting about it. Neither Google nor Youtube confirms that such a disucssion is going on.
October 9 2006 TechCrunch has one more post titled Will GoogleTube Be Announced This Week? based on reports in WSJ and NYTimes and rumours… which were again based on reports from TechCrunch. Here is an excerpt from the post
“…The Google/YouTube acquisition rumors developed quickly over the last few days. After our initial post discussing the rumor, the WSJ (behind a paywall) and the NY Times quickly followed up with their own articles. Neither publication contacted me, and I have no idea who their sources are…
“…We don’t have any additional verified information, other than a bizarre story Marshall Kirkpatrick was tracking and that developed on Friday and Saturday. We got word that a lawyer representing Google may have told at least one person that the “deal has officially gone through.” The person who was supposedly told this then sent an email out to a number of people summarizing the conversation, which we got wind of. I spoke to the attorney, who denied having “any knowledge of the deal” or making that statement. I also spoke to the person who wrote the email, who backtracked and stated that he exaggerated the lawyer’s statements, and that, in short, the email he wrote wasn’t true. At that point Marshall and I decided to drop it. But I will say this – the fact that the lawyer repeately told me that he had no knowledge of a deal instead of “no comment” means he was either lying (unlikely), that a deal is happening and he doesn’t know about it (unlikely), or that there is no deal. We’ll see.”
Nobody is sure about it but the news about the deal is spreading like a wild fire.
October 9 2006 TechCrunch has one more post saying NYTimes is confirming the deal.
Wow!! The rumour mill’s running around in news circles(pun intended!) - NYtimes has reported that WSJ has reported that Reuters has reported that TechCrunch has reported that deal between Google and Youtube is going through…
O well! deal or no deal, the unsubstantiated rumour has definitely pushed up Google’s stock price as well as YouTube’s acquisition value.
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