Is Someone About to Acquire Blinkx? Powered by BlogBurst
POSTED: Friday, May 09, 2008
FROM BLOG: Mashable! - Pete Cashmore on Web 2.0 startups, peer production and user-generated content.
The following blog post is from an independent writer and is not connected with Reuters News. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com.
blinkx
Rumors have surfaced that Blinkx, the UK-based video search engine, is about to be acquired. According to Reuters, the rumors are significant enough to push shares of the company up as much as 50% today on the London Stock Exchange, though it appears they have since cooled.
The usual suspects – Google, Yahoo, and News Corp – are all said to be interested. It seems like Yahoo would be the most logical fit, as Blinkx’s search technology would be a nice compliment to the recently acquired Maven Networks, which is focused on video advertising. Google of course already has its own huge video offering (YouTube) while News Corp, through MySpace, is a distant #2 in online video.
Blinkx has scored a fairly impressive list of partners for which it powers online video search, including Ask.com, Real Networks, and National Geographic. The company went public last summer.
