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    Google Might Buy NBC, Dow Jones (Walmart, Amazon, Pepsi….)

    How about this? Any time some major media company may be on the block, let’s make it a requirement that all media stories automatically insert a comment from some made up financial analyst suggesting that Google is thinking of buying the company too. Maybe I’ve just had it. I mean, last week I read Google […]

    How about this? Any time some major media company may be on the block, let’s
    make it a requirement that all media stories automatically insert a comment from
    some made up financial analyst suggesting that Google is thinking of buying the
    company too.

    Maybe I’ve just had it. I mean, last week I
    read
    Google is interested buying NBC. Now
    via John Battelle, I
    read today that it
    wants Dow Jones.

    Enough.

    If you look at only headlines, it’s easy to take these things too seriously.
    Let’s look at each story more closely, all of which come out of Bloomberg.

    First there’s NBC:

    Nicholas Heymann of Prudential Equity Group Inc. in New York said a company
    such as Google Inc. may be interested in buying NBC Universal as part of its
    effort to add to its mix of media offerings including YouTube.

    Next there’s Dow Jones:

    Washington Post Co., Gannett Co. and even Google Inc. may be interested,
    said Michael Chren, managing director of Allegiant Asset Management Co. in
    Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

    That’s it? A single analyst speculating "may be interested" is enough to get
    the Big G involved in a buy? And does anyone seriously think Google would want to end up owning the Dow Jones-controlled Wall St. Journal? That fits with the company how again?

    Me, I’ll wait until Michael over at
    TechCrunch
    blogs on an acquisition rumor. These don’t even seem worth
    spending time on.


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    About the Author

    Danny Sullivan
    Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land and MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.