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Twitter has indeed acquired Summize, a nifty search engine built specifically to index Twitter posts, TechCrunch reported Tuesday along with a video of Twitter founder Evan Williams talking about it.

The news follows sporadic rumors that were accompanied by both shaky confirmations and shaky denials. An under-the-radar blogger, Josh Chandler, reported the news first; GigaOM’s Om Malik was the first big name to “confirm” it.

Some logistics, as reported by TechCrunch: five of Summize’s six employees will become Twitter employees, minus founder Jay Verdy, who will depart the company for “a new project.” Naturally, no one’s naming numbers, but the transaction was reportedly mostly in stock.

So what does this mean? Basically, that Twitter won’t have to build its own search engine. Simple enough.

Excerpted from:
Yes, Twitter bought Summize

I’m shocked. I’ve been stunned twice in 1 day by former coworkers. First, I had a former colleague admit openly he didn’t know what Twitter was. We worked in a software company together, and he is still there…working in technology…not knowing about Twitter. Twitter isn’t saving the world, it’s not the [...]

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What – You don?t know what Summize is? Really?

Over the past day, a flurry of of tech blogs have bloomed with rumors that microblogging service Twitter might buy Summize, a nifty Twitter search engine.

The juicy news was first reported by a virtually unknown blogger, Josh Chandler. And with all the chatter, you’d think it were the next AOL-Bebo, because the world of tech blogs (and this one is no exception) has a remarkable tendency to ignore the fact that Twitter is still largely a foreign concept outside the digitally astute, and that there are plenty of avid Twitter users who still don’t know what Summize is.

The rumor is also still a good bit unfounded. GigaOM wrote that “it is not just a rumor and a deal is certainly in the works.” Silicon Alley Insider wrote that “a source close to the company tells us it’s not true.”

But as far as acquisitions go, this one would at least make sense. Twitter’s own search functions are limited, and Summize has proven to be one of the more impressive applications built on Twitter’s application program interface (API). It’s proven useful for searching up-to-the-minute conversations, a helpful tool to see what people are saying across the Web.

The problem would be, as Chandler himself points out, that Twitter has plenty of its own issues and an acquisition could be distracting, to put it nicely. With Twitter’s own stability and profitability still on the line, this promising start-up could easily make a wrong turn if it lets that fresh $15 million in funding get to its head.

Here is the original:
OMG! Twitter might buy Summize! Stop the presses!

Over the past day, a flurry of tech blogs has bloomed with rumors that microblogging service Twitter might buy Summize, a nifty Twitter search engine.

The juicy news was first reported by a virtually unknown blogger, Josh Chandler. And with all the chatter, you’d think it were the next AOL-Bebo. That’s because the world of tech blogs (and this one is no exception) has a remarkable tendency to ignore the fact that Twitter is still largely a foreign concept outside the digitally astute and that there are plenty of avid Twitter users who still don’t know what Summize is.

The rumor is also still a good deal unfounded. GigaOM wrote that “it is not just a rumor and a deal is certainly in the works.” Silicon Alley Insider wrote that “a source close to the company tells us it’s not true.”

Neither Twitter nor Summize was immediately available for comment.

As far as acquisitions go, this one would at least make sense. Twitter’s own search functions are limited, and Summize has proven to be one of the more impressive applications built on Twitter’s application program interface (API). It’s proven useful for searching up-to-the-minute conversations, a helpful tool to see what people are saying across the Web.

The problem would be, as Chandler himself points out, that Twitter has plenty of its own issues and an acquisition could be distracting, to put it nicely. With Twitter’s own stability and profitability still on the line, this promising start-up could easily make a wrong turn if it lets that fresh $15 million in funding get to its head.

Here is the original post:
OMG! Twitter might buy Summize