5 Reasons Twitter's Worth $1B to Google

US asks social media, tech execs to help build transparency, fight corruption

(NEWSER) - Iraqi lawmakers tweeting during sessions? YouTube campaign videos? Execs from communications and social media firms, including the likes of Google, AT&T, YouTube, MeetUp, and Twitter are in Iraq this week at the behest of the State Department. Their mission: to consider how their tools might be used to boost transparency, battle corruption, and bring people together in the fledgling democracy, Reuters reports. More»

Two insiders put price well above $250 million

(NEWSER) - Google is in the last stages of acquiring Twitter for a price well above the microblogging site's recent $250 million valuation, reports industry blog TechCrunch, citing anonymous sources. Twitter recently rejected a $500 million offer from Facebook—although much of that price was in stock that may be overvalued. A rep from Google refused to comment on "rumors and speculation." More»

Startups look to combine social network feeds

(NEWSER) - Several new services join personal Internet feeds into a single space, meaning you don’t have to re-post the same new information to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The CEO of Seesmic, a video-conversation service, says it’s frustrating to pick through 10 different social networks—and his company has just bought Twhirl, which allows users to post on three different feeds at once, Technology Review reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google yesterday for what it says is gross copyright infringement on YouTube, the company's newest acquisition. Google has promised to work with companies to remove copyrighted material, but Viacom complains that illegally posted clips of its programs like "The Daily Show" have been watched on YouTube “an astounding 1.5 billion times.” More»

From Facebook to Google, Silicon Valley frowns on flashy spending

(NEWSER) - Facebook's staff may be full of zillionaires, but don't expect Ferraris in the parking lot. Silicon Valley, where almost 14% of homes earn more than $200,000 per year, is deeply opposed to conspicuous consumption—hence Mark Zuckerberg's iconic hoodies and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's underground house. "The message here is, ‘Keep shipping product,'" an insider tells the New York Times . "If someone buys a fancy car and posts a picture of it, they get ridiculed and berated." More»