by Steven Musi
July 22, 2008 8:20 PM PDT

Social news site Digg.com, a perpetual target of acquisition rumors, is in "final negotiations" to sell itself to Google for $200 million, according to a TechCrunch report Tuesday that cited multiple sources.

The two companies have been in talks to bring Digg into the Google News group, but it could be a few weeks before the deal closes, if it closes, according to the report. Representatives for Google and Digg did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Usually a "no comment" or the like is the corresponding response to questions about rumored acquisition negotiations, but that was not the case in March--when the Digg takeover rumor mill was in full swing. Rumors that the social news site might be purchased by Google, Microsoft, or two major media companies had whipped a sizable number of Digg users into a panic.

Digg CEO Jay Adelson, perhaps in an effort to assuage those fears of having a corporate owner, posted a blog that seemed to go a little above and beyond the call in denying the rumors. "Normally our policy is to not comment about things like this," Adelson wrote, "but this morning's rumors about a bidding war involving Google and Microsoft have created such a stir we feel compelled to tell you all directly that they are completely inaccurate."