in brief Search giant Google is close to acquiring US-based social news aggregator Digg for around US$200 million, according to a report on US technology blog TechCrunch.

"The companies are now in final negotiations according to our sources, although it could be a couple of weeks before it closes," the site wrote this morning, adding Digg would be brought into the search giant under its Google News property. However, the deal could still fall through, or another party — such as Microsoft — could step in.

Digg was launched in November 2004 by a number of youthful entrepreneurs in the US, with the most high-profile of those being Kevin Rose and Digg's current chief executive Jay Adelson.

The site is one of the best-known internet content and social news aggregators, and has a number of competitors such as Slashdot and Reddit. It has a substantial advertising deal with Microsoft and a loyal user community who contribute heavily to the site.

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