Google continues on their goal of taking over the world by buying up anything that has a remote chance of getting big. The latest purchase added to the growing list of Google acquisitions is FeedBurner. These are the guys that handle my RSS feed and show that fancy counter that say I have over 5,000 RSS readers. They also run the FeedBurner Ad Network (FAN) that makes me a bit of cash.
Feedburner is in the closing stages of being acquired by Google for around $100 million. The deal is all cash and mostly upfront, according to our source, although the founders will be locked in for a couple of years.
FeedBurner was founded in 2003 and funded with $10 million of capital in two rounds. Google will be paying $100 million cash for the company. $10 million into $100 million in four years? That’s a pretty good return on investment! However, I am surprised that FeedBurner is doing an all cash deal. The taxes on that kind of gain would allow you to live off the interest for the rest of your life.
Source: TechCrunch
Find out what I am doing right now by following me on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to my full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.
Make Money Online with John Chow's Ad Network - Join TTZ Media Now!
(7 votes, average: 3.14 out of 5)
Loading ...
Here's A Few More Related Posts
Craziness! Is there anything on the internet that won’t be part of Google?
Resistance is futile!!!
Then, I must be their next acquisition.
By buying me, they will be able to import the .MIS(metadata) into a little something called Youtube.
Oh well! I just need to wait a few days/hours for them to raise the money and contact me.
hmmm, good luck with that
am… john chow dot com
I wonder what Google’s gonna buy next time…
hmmm, johnchow.com
Im sure there are companies that want to compete with them and never going to sell it to them
That is crazy. Now will the change feedburner? Will the Google Brand it? Will they leave it as is? Will they have an option to put AdSense ads into our RSS Feeds via Feedburner?
Be interesting to see!
I think it’s safe to assume that you will see Google AdSense ads in a Feedburner RSS real soon.
Will it makes us to earn more money from our feeds?
Probably.. I’m pretty sure google will be able to plug in more advertisers in the FAN network then feedburner were able to..
i’d think so, anyone can easily implement adsense into their rss now
I think google have a better exposure to get more advertiser
Yes, I agree 100%. Text-Link-Ads already allows you to monetize your RSS feeds via their Feedvertising program, so I think it’s safe to say that Google plans to dominate this area as well.
Having AdSense in a feed will certainly be welcome news, especially for those whose readers mostly read via feed. TechCrunch, for example, has over 411,000 feed subscribers and only a small portion of them visit the actual site regularly. So to be able to monetize a feed like that will be a goldmine.
To note, TLA’s Feedvertising technology only supports WordPress (not Blogger) and I bet you know why!
I was just reading through the FeedBurner blog and their April 26th (2005) post states, “Google has launched a trial program enabling AdSense in RSS, and FeedBurner has implemented support for this capability. Google is currently testing this program with just a few publishers, but as the program becomes more widely available, and your Google AdSense id is approved for use with RSS ads, FeedBurner will take care of the rest as part of our suite of services.”
So it sounds like everything with AdSense in RSS is already taken care of; it’s just a matter of when/if Google plans to launch it.
That’s going to be very, very interesting. While I’m sure TLA’s offering is reasonable, nothing matches the advertisers that Google has in its pool.
that’s true
Yep, I fully agree. Plus, sites with lower traffic amounts don’t even qualify for TLA’s Feedvertising program, so it’s not even a viable option for many folks to begin with. The smaller blogs that can definitely use that extra income stream lose out completely.
But if Google monetizes the FeedBurner feeds with AdSense you can bet your boots that the smaller publishers won’t be left out.
Needless to say, TLA will certainly have their hands full going against Google/FeedBurner in the RSS monetization arena. And I bet they’ll totally drop those traffic requirements too…just like Kontera did.
Sometimes I shriek when Google buys companies. They are getting so big and powerful that they can control information. Also, the vast amount of data they own will allow them to spot trends and become even more powerful.
On the flip side, products often improve once Google buys them.
Reminds me of that Google mock-umentary John posted c/o YouTube a while back — it’s inspiring how they’re getting bigger every second, but can be a little scary, too.
Google could do all of the stuff you’re worried about seven years ago. We’re way past that stage. Just enjoy the ride from here on out ’cause there’s no getting off…
yep, google has all our surfing info
we’re doomed
100 million. I know my eyes are just open, but that can’t be right! That little website! Wow!
Kenneth
Feedburner is by no mean a little website!
PR 8
Alexa 318
On Technorati it has 5 times more authority than the Engadget
As of 21 May 07 feeding 422,717 publishers who’ve burned 721,074 feeds
Little?
Feedburner is growing at a phenomenal rate.
With Google as it’s mothership, we could all bet that Feedburner can only get bigger (and better?).
According to Nielsen/NetRatings, FeedBurner is growing faster than MySpace and Digg and has a 385% traffic growth.
Total feeds: 721,074
Number of publishers: 422,717
Number of podcast & videocast feeds: 111,383
Definitely worth $100 million. Just imagine all the ad revenue Google can pull in off of that. It should pay for itself many times over in a very, very short time.
it’s one of the most widely used website online
almost every experienced blogger has got an account with them.
[...] Se spune că a pornit cu 10 milioane de dolari in 2 tranşe si s-a vândut după 4 ani cu 100 de milioane. Nu îi rău! [...]
I wonder if that’s going to change how we implement our feeds.
it’ll be a lot easier
maybe as easy as a single click
Google will run our lives soon…thanks!
$10 million to $100 million in 4 years - not a bad return indeed. I see more of these buyouts happening as the major players jockey for position.
I suspect the reason Google did it is because people are probably clicking less-and-less on Adsense ads than before. Adsense ads are almost too pervasive. I think many are suffering from “Adsense overload” and probably ignore the ads the great majority of the time. I, for one, can’t remember the last time I clicked on an Adsense ad (or Adwords for that matter).
I think their 2006 Q4 earnings of 1 billion would tend to deflate that argument…
good point indeed
but there are always those who just joined the internet age…they just can’t help but click…
its getting sad seeing all the news here as re-writes of techcrunch, problogger etc. no offence, but I get opinion that its true what they say about china people and their lack of originality. you guys are best at copying stuff, and making it less expensive with your cheap work-force. no wonder you’re gonna take on the world… I see more and more Chinamen illegally in my country taking jobs from local people, just because they are prepared to work 22 hours a day for 2$… did you guys ever invent something, except modifying better existing inventions and making them cheaper?
Actually, it’s Japan that is good at copying. We just like to beat people up with Kung Fu.
You and your ninjas…
john, he’s a racist
but there’s no need to say that about japan
You’ve got to admit that Japan for the time being as a whole is a lot more Creative than China…
I actually thought you were Canadian. I know this is way off topic but…
I am Canadian.
Umm, Jackie Chan? He’s pretty awesome and I thank the Orient for him everyday!
well, you’re a racist alright
little hitler you’re
let me tell you this:
Chinese invented paper, fireworks, compass and printing….
they have contributed a lot
They just wanted a better life through hard-working
what’s wrong with that
They are borgs…
why couldn’t you just keep focus on the topic? oh please… all people know, only jealous people say that
Yep Google is the new MS….thats a really good buy !!
I still can’t get over the Google workplace. During lunch breaks they get spa treatments and meet with their personal trainer. After the break, they find online ventures they can buy off.
[...] acquisition because almost all of the influential western bloggers (like Read and Write Web, John Chow, Mathew, Paid Content, Valleywag, and Ms. Jordan) are talking about [...]
its interesting that its an all cash deal.
YouTube was an all stock deal. Did the Feedburner founders play hard ball in order to get cold hard cash?
The interesting thing is the whole Adsense for feeds. What would happen if your blog was scraped? Would you not mind as your adsense would be displayed? Or would they generate invalid clicks, thus shutting your programme down when it really isn’t your fault? Only time will tell whether this is a good move or a disaster.
That’s probably why they’re testing it out with select publishers first. Hopefully they’ll iron all of that out. Scrapers could bypass showing our ads if they wanted to without any trouble at all so we won’t get that windfall.
[...] hvis du havde 100 mio. dollars, for det blev prisen for FeedBurner, der blev skabt i 2003. Kilde: John Chow, der har det fra [...]
I wonder when Google will buy a phone company and TV network?
Real soon, I bet…
I say congrats to them feedburner for making the money but google.. I SAY NO SOUP FOR YOU!