Report: Google, Microsoft, and two media companies bidding on Digg

If every blog rumor were to be believed, social news site Digg would have been bought a dozen times over by now, so take the latest one with the requisite grain of salt.

TechCrunch reported early on Friday that four companies are in the running to place bids on Digg--Microsoft, Google, and two unidentified "media companies"--and that a sale may happen soon. It'll likely be less than the $300 million that Digg was once rumored to go for; TechCrunch's Michael Arrington cited sources who said that Google is prepared to bid $200 million to $225 million and that Microsoft, which currently serves ads on Digg, is aiming slightly lower. That's a good bit less than the $300 valuation that was floating around when Digg reportedly hired investment bank Allen & Co. to shop it around.

As for the media companies, no specifics are given, but keep in mind that Digg has deals with several traditional media companies' online arms, like CBS and News Corp.

In an interview several weeks ago, Digg founder Kevin Rose told CNET News.com that he thought selling the company to a big buyer could get in the way of running it efficiently.

One TechCrunch commenter noted, "Good for them, but Diggers will complain either way," referring to the site's active and opinionated crowd of regular users. "There's no pleasing them."

[iamreallypicky]

For the love of the English language, proper grammar!

For all news reports, I think it necessary that the King's English be <br />used. Please avoid split infinitives! "If this one turns out to not be <br />true," should read "If this one turns out not to be true".<br /><br />Surely, Star Trek fans will use "to boldly go where no man has gone <br />before" as justification in a response...

[if62668]

Grammar

"If this one turns out to not be true"<br />"If this one turns out not to be true"<br />"If this one turns out to be not true"<br /><br />you know, they all carry the same meaning and there is no "rule" in English against splitting the infinitive if meaning isn't lost...in the apocryphal words of Churchill <br />"This is the kind of pedantic nonsense up with which I will not put!"

[Penguinisto]

I hope MSFT gets them.

The look on the Digg community's collective face would be priceless.<br /><br />(don't matter to me - I prefer Slashdot).<br /><br />/P

[Cougar.pt]

Go goog!!

\o\<br />/o/<br />\o/ Go goog :P

[bellgong]

something like digg should be worth at least a million trillion dollars

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