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Report: Twitter Eyes Capital, $3 Bil Valuation

Twitter is about ready for another big round of financing, multiple sources tell TechCrunch. "The valuation is likely to be in the $3 billion range, and they'll likely raise more than the $100 million they took a little over a year ago at a $1 billion valuation," according to the blog's founder Michael Arrington. To date, Twitter has raised $160 million. The likeliest investors, according to Arrington, include Russian firm DST, which has invested in Facebook, Groupon and Zynga. Needless to day, venture firms are "frothing at the mouth" at the prospect of leading the round, Arrington writes.

Meanwhile, a single source tells Arrington that Google was in talks to buy Twitter for $5 billion, while other trusted sources insist no such conversation ever took place. While the exact model has yet to take shape, Twitter has been hard at work monetizing its platform. Expanding its Promoted Tweets ad program, Twitter earlier this month began dropping ads into the timelines of some members -- specifically, those who use the third-party social media client HootSuite. Virgin, Starbucks and Red Bull have reportedly signed on to try the new ads, short Twitter messages that appear with the label "promoted by."

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