Is Yahoo Looking To Buy Foursquare?

Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that talks are underway about a possible Yahoo acquisition of the hot local check-in service Foursquare.

SAI isn’t naming names, but cites “a source close to bankers involved in Foursquare’s current fundraising efforts,” who says the price tag would be “around $100 million.” A “source close to Yahoo” is quoted as saying, “we’ve had discussions.”

Yahoo made a splash in 2005/2006 when it went on a buying spree, gobbling up social-based sites like Flickr, blo.gs, Upcoming.org, and delicious in less than a year. More recently, though, CEO Carol Bartz has been focused on trimming Yahoo’s excess. The Yahoo Publisher Network is on its way out; HotJobs was sold in February; and the company has outsourced Yahoo Shopping and Yahoo Health.

Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley declined to comment for SAI’s story, and Yahoo did the same with us when asked about the rumor: “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”