(4 June 2007 2:01 pm)

MUMBAI: Google Inc. has acquired FeedBurner, a specialist firm in delivering podcasts, weblogs, news and advertising to internet browsers.

Based in Chicago, FeedBurner is a "web feed" firm that lets online publishers constantly send updated news, commentary and other content directly to readers with tools such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS).

The volume of web content and advertising delivered via RSS and Atom feeds has increased significantly in recent years. This acquisition is likely to help Google capitalize on its growth and expand its advertising reach.

During a conference call with reporters, Google vice president for product management Susan Wojcicki said, "We are thrilled with this acquisition. We believe the two companies are very complementary and it will enable Google to bring hundreds of thousands of new sites into AdSense network."

Google co-founder Dick Costolo said that more than 763,000 'live feeds' run through FeedBurner daily, delivering content from approximately 430,000 publishers including major news organisations. "The number of feed publishers continues to explode and the number of people subscribing has exploded," he said.