Google Courting YouTube By: Jason Hahn - Topic: Web - Date: October 6, 2006

Last night, Michael Arrington posted a speculative report about Google talking with YouTube about a possible acquisition.  He said that he would "put this at 40% likely to be at least partially true."  It appears that he was being modest.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is indeed talking with YouTube about an acquisition deal for about $1.6 billion.

The WSJ articles talks about the copyright troubles that YouTube would be presenting to Google, but also notes that Google is big and smart enough to deal with them effectively.

It's a bit early to be notching this as a done deal, but clearly the thought of it is very interesting, even to the remotest of Internet watchers.

There are big benefits for both sides: Google would be taking on a brand and a product that would greatly advance its mediocre video arm, while YouTube's big heads would be cashing out on a lucrative deal while washing their hands of the copyright issues that have been getting more and more press lately.

So, will Google be the "moron" that will buy YouTube?  We should find out soon enough.

Is it just me, or does the word "billion" seem to be losing its awe-factor lately?