google to buy youtube?

Does the silence on the Intel-Nvidia buyout rumors getting you down? Fear not, for the Wall Street Journal reports today (subscription required, though not for today) that web behemoth Google is in talks to buy the insanely popular video-sharing site YouTube for $1.6bn, though “discussions are still at a sensitive stage and could well break off” according to the article’s unnamed source.

If it goes through, YouTube would ostensibly merge with Google’s own site Google Video, creating an entity that should be untouchable in terms of market share. Making money is another thing, though, as YouTube is hemorrhaging funds at an alarming rate without a clear model for sustaining itself for the future. Perhaps a jolt from Google’s excellent AdSense service would do the trick?

In any case, the acquisition would only further cement Google’s dominance in virtually every area of the Interweb (yes, I know that isn’t a word). Google is also better positioned to deal with the inevitable lawsuits over the growing amount of copyrighted material available on YouTube (television programs and music videos especially). But don’t hold your breath. And don’t tell Mark Cuban.

–D. S. W.