BBC -- Google is buying video-sharing website YouTube for
$1.65bn (£883m) in shares after a weekend of speculation that a deal
was in the offing.
The two companies will continue to operate independently, Google said
as it announced the news on Monday.
YouTube, launched in February 2005, has grown quickly into one of the
most popular websites on the internet.
It has 100 million videos viewed every day and an estimated 20 million
individual visitors each month.
"The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform
that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information
and make it universally accessible and useful," Google chief executive
Eric Schmidt said in a statement.
He said the two companies were "natural partners" to offer a media
entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers.
YouTube will retain its brand, and its 67 staff including co-founders
Chad Hurley and Steve Chen will keep their jobs.
"Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people
consume media, creating a new clip culture," said Mr Hurley.
"By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and
technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment
experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our
partners."
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