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News Corp. Mulls LinkedIn Acquisition

Over the weekend, TechCrunch UK started spreading the rumor that Rupert Murdoch is now after LinkedIn, the Silicon Valley-based social network for professionals. No valuation is discussed, but report author Mike Butcher says his source is "very well-placed."

News Corp.'s social network MySpace still has a long lead over No. 2 Facebook, but the latter has managed to gain far more traction among professionals, the bread-and-butter of 16 million-strong LinkedIn. The social network with a purpose (which is to connect business professionals with others in immediate or related fields) boasts 189 percent year-over-year traffic growth, according to Nielsen Online--and a network that spans 150 industries in 400 economic regions. The social network has also been profitable since March 2006, raking in $10 million last year. If News Corp. wants to catch up with Facebook in the professional field, LinkedIn--a company that's clearly on an upward trajectory--would be the best acquisition candidate, Butcher says.

Business-to-business social networking is a field rife with opportunity. Traditional newspapers continue to bleed revenues as classified advertising in particular moves to the Web. Much of this goes to Craigslist, but LinkedIn has also proved to be a worthwhile recruiting ground--particularly because it allows job hunters to build relationships inside companies they'd like to work for and visa versa. Butcher says social networks will attract more classified dollars as job recruiters diversify their online spending.

Read the whole story at TechCrunch »

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