Will Google buy Twitter?

"Here's a heck of a rumor," said Michael Arrington in TechCrunch. "Google is in late-stage negotiations to buy Twitter," according to two reliable sources. A deal would surely be "well north of the $250 million valuation" that venture capitalists placed on Twitter when they invested in February, but it's still a "brilliant deal" for Google, which needs Twitter's expertise in real-time Internet search.

"Real-time is the future of everything, someone wrote three seconds ago," said Owen Thomas in Gawker. Real-time anything certainly appeals "to the Ritalin addicts of the tech and media worlds, for whom instant gratification" takes too long. (watch Jon Stewart's Twittermania critique) But the trouble with sinking a fortune into Twitter is "its lack of any sincere interest in making money."

Don't worry, Google has advertising programs that could monetize Twitter, said Ian Paul in PC World. Besides, Google can't afford to let Twitter fall into the hands of Yahoo or Microsoft, because that could be a "game-changer in the search business" that Google now dominates. Combining the complementary power of Google and Twitter could make a deal "a win-win situation for both companies and the everyday user."

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Twitter might want to step back and play hard to get, said Sam Diaz in ZDNET. "Twitter is just now starting to hit the mainstream and really hasn't found its groove just yet." The break-neck growth we've seen (read about Twitter vs. Facebook) could be "small potatoes" compared to the growth—and value—that Twitter will have tomorrow. So any pricetag Google's willing to pay now could be too low.