Google may buy Whatsapp for $1 billion: Report - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The hugely popular social media app WhatsApp may soon become a part of Google, with online media abuzz with reports of the internet titan courting the smartphone messaging app maker. Technology website Digital Trends, citing an inside source, has reported that a deal between Google and WhatsApp has been in works for the past four to five weeks. Google and WhatsApp are currently said to be negotiating over pricing of the deal. Says the report, WhatsApp is playing hardball and jockeying for a higher acquisition price, which currently is "close to" $1. Google is rumoure d to be working on Babel, a mobile messaging app that unifies various communication services under one umbrella. WhatsApp is the most popular mobile instant messengers, ahead of rivals like Viber, Kik, WeChat, Nimbuzz etc. It is among the top paid apps in over 100 countries and charges $0.99 for annual ad-free subscription. If the acquisition is successful, WhatsApp will join the ranks of Google's high-profile buyouts like YouTube and Android. This is the second time that reports of WhatsApp's takeover have emerged in the past year, as Facebook was in talks to acquire it previously. Last year, Facebook reportedly made an offer for WhatsApp, which was denied by the latter.< /p> via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHpSYRNhmOfB2JTD5LVRzkzY5Tq0A&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-may-buy-Whatsapp-for-1-billion-Report/articleshow/19444166.cms

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