Google has just acquired Feedburner. Financial terms of the acquisition were not immediately available, however rumor has it that it's north of $100 million.Feedburner blog was quick to point to this FAQ link which includes some "reassurance" about user privacy. Specifically it says, "Google has a long-standing commitment to protecting the privacy of users' personal information. FeedBurner users can expect the same high standards of privacy protection following this acquisition. We believe that notice and choice are the foundations of privacy. As such, we are committed to transparency for our end users, and to respecting the choices they make with regards to their privacy preferences. The transition to Google’s privacy policy and the opt-out mechanism we are providing for current FeedBurner users will help us achieve these goals."
Considering the controversy surrounding street-level photos on Google Maps and now Google owning the largest hosted RSS feed site, the privacy advocates will be screaming a wee bit louder today. Wonder when the EU or FTC will jump in and try and break up Google or fine them like what happened to Microsoft. Google has largely been immune from any anti-competitive or anti-trust issues. Why is that?
Is a Technorati acquisition far behind?
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Wow - this is huge.
Why would they acquire Technorati? Google Blog Search seems to be much superior...
>>Google Blog Search seems to be much superior...
That's probably a matter of personal tastes. But comparisons aside, Google could acquire Technorati simply to block a competitor (Microsoft, Yahoo) from acquiring them.
The benefits to Google of this acquisition are obvious. The fact that Google are buying competition out of the market for, what seem to be, inflated prices, means that they will be forced to invest heavily in the Feed domain for a long time to come. Great for those Bloggers hoping for sustained audiences (and income)! Love 'em or hate 'em, the Google train choo-choo's onwards!