Rumors are hot about News Corp planning to buy Digg. It’s a rumor right now, how much truth is there, is anybodies guess. This can be a real news and might have been leaked to press as a part of strategy as suggested by Internet Analyst, Henry Blodget,

Settle on basic deal terms and a provisional price, leak details so the market has a couple of days to chew on the idea, see how the stock reacts, neutralize the market’s biggest concern (lawsuits) by announcing a distribution pact with the main guy who might sue you, fix the price, rubber-stamp the press release, and go.

Coming days will tell us how much truth is there. If News Corp cannot buy this then these might be probable buyers for digg.

Microsoft - Microsoft will be the obvious choice because Microsoft is lagging in this Web 2.0 phenomenon. There hasn't been any decent/buzzing service offering by Microsoft in this space. If this comes on board, it will provide them a kick-start, which they are hoping for a while. Microsoft has got all the ingredients the to make this happen.

Yahooo - Yahoo's revenue is not increasing and is losing to Google on many fronts. If yahoo can pull this off it will be their third prize catch after flickr and del.icio.us. Both of these are brilliant applications. Digg will fit well into their service offering.

Time Warner - Time warner group which own Netscape will be other contender. Netscape has launched their portal on digg style but is not popluar as digg is. Netscape recently asked top digg contributors to join and get paid for their contribution. Netscape would definitely like to acquire this.

Google - If nobody can buy digg than Google will definitely try. It will be more of a strategic move, to not to allow Yahoo, Microsoft or News corp to buy this. Google can pull this off.

I can think of only these 5 contenders, what do you think? is there any other company (media) which might be interested in?
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