Google Aiming for the Sky(pe)?
Source: asteriskblog.com
Though there still aren’t any facts (confirmations/denials from Google nor Skype that the latest rumour circulating the internet is true it is still juicy enough, especially for anyone in the VOIP world, to blog about it. The rumour of Google’s supposed acquisition was first blogged in the Guardian by Jemima Kiss and this is what she said,
“Currently in favour around London’s webbist community is the rumour that Google has been in negotiations to buy Skype, the web telephony firm, from eBay.
This makes sense on a number of levels, particularly because it fits with Google’s ambitions for disrupting the mobile industry through its new open mobile phone development platform Android, and for eBay - which was recently forced to admit that it had paid too much for Skype.
Plus, Google bases all of its mobile projects in London, so this is the fitting place for such a rumour.”
So is there are real possibility of eBay letting go of Skype? According to Rich Tehrani,
“…from Google’s standpoint there is a 100% chance that Skype is something the company wants. The question is will eBay part with the world’s largest software-based telephone company? My feeling is if they haven’t figured out how to integrate or monetize Skype yet they may never figure it out. Moreover, selling to Google makes sense for all involved and also allows the talented Skype team the ability to really monetize their platform in a meaningful way. eBay for its part might even get some concessions from Google in the deal, ensuring that Google doesn’t compete in any significant way with PayPal.“
So it seems that it would indeed be a win-win situation for both. However, until we hear the official news from Google and eBay we can only wonder.
