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Easy Prediction: Google Not Going To Buy Dow Jones

from the they-can-do-anything dept

Wed, May 2nd 2007 7:39pm — Joseph Weisenthal

The fate of Dow Jones is very much in flux at the moment, with many predicting that News Corp. will ultimately be successful in its pursuit, despite the Bancroft family's initial opposition. As we mentioned yesterday, the deal has significance beyond the two companies, and some are wondering whether another party will come in and save Dow Jones. Naturally, a lot of names are being thrown around, including GE, private equity firms, and other newspaper companies, like the Washington Post. Oddly, a few people have thrown out the idea that Google could show some interest in the company. This is, to put it succinctly, never going to happen. Anyone who thinks that Google would shell out billions of dollars for a newspaper company doesn't realize what business Google is in, or, at the least, doesn't understand its business model. At this point, it seems like the name Google is just thrown around because it's a huge company with a pile of cash, rather then there being any logical reason for it. So if you're closely following this story, this is one rumor that you can safely ignore

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7 Comments

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Buzz, 2 May 2007 @ 7:49pm

Google FTW
Google helps FIND information... it doesn't CARRY it. :P
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2007 @ 11:41pm
  
  Dumbass
  Ever heard of Google cache?
  It's the thing most of the companies get mad about when they say google is holding their information.
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nonuser, 2 May 2007 @ 7:58pm

how about yahoo?
Agree it makes little sense for Google. But Yahoo is more of a portal than a search engine, and as the second or third horse in the race it could use a game changing device.

IAC is also lurking out there.
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Svante Jorgensen, 2 May 2007 @ 8:27pm

The search begins
If you can find a company that Google is _not_ rumored to buy, see that would be news!
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- Charles Griswold, 2 May 2007 @ 11:08pm
  
  Re: The search begins
  If you can find a company that Google is _not_ rumored to buy, see that would be news!
  Asia Carrera Productions?
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Bill, 3 May 2007 @ 5:21am

Re: how about yahoo?
Just read on Briefing.com that the word is they're talking to Thomson Corporation, Reuters and Yahoo. The Bancroft family is shopping the company to see what the value is in the company.
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Bill, 5 May 2007 @ 2:17pm

stupid, pointless article
This is, to put it succinctly, never going to happen. Anyone who thinks that Google would shell out billions of dollars for a newspaper company doesn't realize what business Google is in, or, at the least, doesn't understand its business model. This article from Joe is somewhat emblematic of the problem I have with lots of Techdirt articles. The bombastic statements of "fact", the pointing out of some previously unnoticed "error" on the part of someone and the lack of information to back up the story. If Joe had included what Google's business plan is, what business Dow Jones is in and why these two would be incompatible we, the readers, could maybe have learned something from him. Instead it's kind of a taunt over a possible mistake but I'm not convinced there was a mistake because I haven't learned anything about the issues.
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