Rumor: FeedBurner to be acquired by Google

There is a rumor (stress on RUMOR) that Google will acquire FeedBurner. Sam Sethi has the details from his "trusted source" over on Vecosys. I have no information whether this is true or not, so please don't run to the trading floor.

Sam says, "So RSS has effectively eliminated the potential value of AdSense and DoubleClick because the majority of people never view them. This is already hurting publishers who rely heavily on the income generated by  people watching or clicking on adverts."

Pete says, "Feedburner has been a prime acquisition target for over a year, and Google needs to get into the RSS ad market. They could even merge Feedburner’s stat tracking with Google Analytics, providing all your stats in one place. The question is: why wouldn’t Google buy Feedburner?"

Don't forget that Google buys a start-up every few days.

I love FeedBurner. They are no doubt a company I would want to work for. Eric (publisher dude) and Traci (pr dudette) rock. I had a chance to spend a day at their offices and just felt such a great vibe throughout the office. Even their fridge shows the importance they place on customer satisfaction. I hate the idea that Google would acquire them as a defensive move to keep the Yahoo/Microsoft away.

I would prefer FeedBurner remains independent but when the Google ATM comes calling, it's hard not to enter your PIN number and ask for any amount you would like. By the end of 2007, my prediction will be right and we will have 3 choices to work with both as publisher and/or advertiser: Google, Microsoft or Yahoo. And let me predict it now, 2008 will be a banner year for publishers as the 3 battle it out for our impressions.