See, I agreed with you that Google would try to clone or buy out Twitter. That's what I thought they were trying to do when they bought Jaiku -- but then they sat on it for two years and then killed it completely, throwing the source overboard to save it at the last minute, like Netscape did.
So that leaves a buyout -- in which case, what are they waiting for? Google is not known for hanging around debating acquisitions. It gets in early (with the notable exceptions of YouTube and DoubleClick). So is it waiting for Twitter to prove itself? With CNN constantly plugging Twitter and even members of congress getting in on the act, how much more does it have to prove?
I think the time for Google to get involved has passed. They will partner with Twitter as an independent company, if anything.
IMO I think Google is hoping that twitter becomes a better search platform to compete against it. Google is the top dog and nobody is even close to its dominance in the arena, it needs competition if it wants to avoid the whole anti-trust thing.
So that leaves a buyout -- in which case, what are they waiting for? Google is not known for hanging around debating acquisitions. It gets in early (with the notable exceptions of YouTube and DoubleClick). So is it waiting for Twitter to prove itself? With CNN constantly plugging Twitter and even members of congress getting in on the act, how much more does it have to prove?
I think the time for Google to get involved has passed. They will partner with Twitter as an independent company, if anything.