Rumor: Google to buy Opera, according to Yahoo Europe president
Published December 14th, 2005 5:10 PM EST By Daniel GoldmanPierre Chappaz, the former president of Yahoo Europe, claims to have a source, whom he says is generally very well informed, who told him that Google is planning on buying the Opera web browser.
I must say that I find this very hard to believe; after all, Google recently hired some Mozilla/Firefox people, in addition to being an active supporter of the open source browser.
If this in fact were true, it wouldn’t be the first time that Opera has been approached by a major company for a buyout. Back in 1996 Sun Microsystems made an offer to buy Opera for about £9 million ($16.8 million US). A while back an Opera spokeswoman told me that they have been approached by major companies in the past but Opera’s CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, has always declined the offers, no matter the dollar size.
An Opera official outright denied this claim, after I asked about it, saying “Rumors come and go. Google is not buying Opera.”
Perhaps there is a bit of truth to this, maybe Google is collaborating with Opera on some project that we don’t know about yet. Who knows?
–
Thanks to Nao for the tip.
There will always be rumors. I find it hard believe that Google is planning to buy Opera - and if they are really are, I’m sure Opera will deny it. Hopefully.
When thinking of all the Google services that doesnt work in Opera, and the fact that Google doesnt test their site in Opera….
I THINK NOT.
Opera and Google share much of the same vision for the web, an acquisition would put Google way ahead of its rivals in the mobile space, but I seriously won’t believe this until I see it;)
Perhaps Google and Opera are just getting together to figure out what Google’s plans are so that Opera can support the latest technology.
Thank you, Jon von Tetzchner, for keeping Opera strong.
I DO NOT want to see Google buying out Opera. Even if Google makes an offer, I sincerely hope that Opera declines it.
I would not like to have Opera renamed as Goopera bundled with loads of Google software. Would be great if Opera stays single and continues to innovate in the browser arena.
Google is the new Microsoft !
It’s just a nonsense guys!
:LOL:
I don’t much like Google, but this isn’t this first time I’d wish they’d buy up Opera. With Google behind Opera, it could really get out to the masses.
I think something might be up. Take a look at these two sites:
http://www.google.com/ig/directory
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,123615,pg,4,00.asp
(Check the second paragraph. Thanks for reporting the second site David.)
Whoops! Forgot to take off that brace.
Chappaz recently announced Google’s acquisition of Riya, so his average is at present not great…
Just saw mention of it on Memeorandum (main article: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051214-160133).
Back about three “surprise” announcements ago (summer?) a Google acquisition was my guess and hope. It’s really the only chance of making a dent against Firefox and the soon-to-be massively revitalized IE7. Maybe Opera doesn’t really care about dents, but I hope they do since there are just too many sites on the Internet that don’t play nice with Opera and can’t really be bothered to.
This is nothing more than a rumor
Daniel DeVaney
http://dandevaney.com
I dont think that google is planning to buy opera.Afterall they recently launched an firefox with google toolbar refferal campaign.
And even if they offer,i am confident that Opera would refuse it.
Dear God, PLEASE NO!!!
Other blogs quoting Chapaz say he is a *former* president of Yahoo! Europe.
In his blog someone makes a sensible comment: why would Google buy Opera if they have hired Mozilla people and can start their own version of FF for free?
Lol .. So what will it be called ..? Goopera Beta ..?
Daniel> Chappaz isn’t currently the head of Yahoo! Europe, but that’s okay, I also got one fact wrong, since in my e-mail I told you he gave the information in an “interview” while it was actually on his blog.
Anonymous> Maybe Google would like to have a browser that is not open source, so they can integrate proprietary closed source technology into it? Or maybe it’s just because they just love Opera, as we all do here
Meme chose> Since Mr. Chappaz has got a few of his rumours confirmed later, especially when it comes to Google, it seems to me that he can be trusted. That’s not to say the rumour is true — it’s just, he didn’t make it up. Maybe it’s just an idea flying somewhere in the exec room at the Google HQ and no one will actually catch the idea in the fishnet to make it true.
–Nao/Gilles, the tipper
“Opera’s CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, has always declined the offers, no matter the dollar size.”
The only problem now is Opera is a PLC, and so anyone can buy them if the shareholders think they are getting a good deal. And Google could easily offer them a good deal…
“Opera’s CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, has always declined the offers, no matter the dollar size.”
The only problem now is Opera is a PLC, and so anyone can buy them if the shareholders think they are getting a good deal. And Google could easily offer them a good deal…
why would Google buy Opera if they have hired Mozilla people and can start their own version of FF for free?
Well, Nokia has licensed Opera, funded Minimo, and developed their own browser based on WebKit. So it’s not unheard-of for a copmany to hedge its bets by supporting multiple browser technologies.
(Just playing devil’s advocate, here.)
The only reason I can think of that would compell Google to buy Opera is for the firm’s mobile browser technologies and the fact that Opera recently released an AJAX API for mobile devices. Getting developers to sign up for Opera is one thing, but if the firm were owned by Google, developers would flock to build mobile AJAX enabled applications.
why would they want to buy such a ****** browser?
It’s really not a ****** browser. It lacks certain features and clean running because of incompatability with most sites, they being possibly built to Firefox or IE.
People, lets keep this a family-friendly site.
The source was misheard. Google is going to buy… Ophra.
Oh come on. Fact is Opera is better than Firefox. The extensions that you have to add to Firefox (like Tabs) have been perfectly implimented in Opera for 10 years! Without nearly the bugs you’ll find in open sourse software.
We are having problems in 9beta right now because they are trying to make it work more like Firefox!
Oh and it doesn’t lack TOO many features. It’s more fully featured that firefox out of the box. And it’s definitely more fully featured than IE. PLUS, it’s less than half the filesize of Firefox. Add extensions and it’s MUCH smaller. Plus, firefox runs sloooow. Opera really is the fastest browser.
And it’s not Opera’s fault that webmasters don’t know how to code their webpages. If they stuck to WC3 standards their sites would render beautifully in Opera.
I do not think it would be a good idea for Google to buy a browser. While expanding beyond their current market zone would make Wall Street and accountants happy, it would hasten the process of reducing Google’s stature among users. . . . On a personal note, this brought to my attention the fact that Opera now has not ads in the free version. There is now room on my desktop for it!
There are actually very few websites that don’t render correctly in Opera. Some of it is artificial. Yahoo mail actually sends less information to Opera than to the other browsers. Not because Opera can’t run it, but because Yahoo is prejudiced against Opera.
In case you’re wondering about the rude comments… you’ve been Slashdotted.
Well…actually. I can see why Google would consider buying Opera. Opera is a fast, light browser that has a somewhat sparse but powerful interface (A good fit for Google software standards). It is very W3C standards compliant. If Google branded opera something engineer like “Google Browser” and enough people downloaded it because of the Halo effect; More developers could then concentrate on making their pages W3C compliant, a “good” thing. Google could also concentrate on making it’s own pages more W3C compliant. If the Opera browser on the desktop OS’s had the same ability to have a Konfabulator like interface, Google could try and catch up with Yahoo. Yahoo has the “real” Konfabulator already rebranded. If the Opera widgets system was promising enough, they could nix the “relatively crappy” google desktop that resembles the Windows 98 “Channel Bar”. Also buy “owning” their own browser, they would be able to better blur the lines between desktop and browser. There might be some killer app that Google would have the opportunity to create that is integrated seamlessly in Opera. Microsoft with a bunch of suites of platforms was working on this blurring these lines until the last browser wars ended. Meanwhile, I could see the support of firefox as sort of a support of Microsoft’s “enemy”. In a business sense, you can’t have a competitor calling your shots. IE breaks people’s web pages. It’s in Google’s interest to give people a nice experience on their web pages using some other software. And frankly, hiring a handful of firefox engineers to keep it going strong costs a pittance to them, almost nothing, compared to what Microsoft could cost them.
That wouldn’t be so bad. I’ve been using Opera for a while now. Except for the fact that neither Gmail nor Yahoo Mail work properly, I really love the browser. Maybe if Google buys it, we’ll see full gmail and blogger support for the browser.
opera 8 is the 1st multimodal browser on the desktop (able to do x+v if you download the plugin). I suspect that the cell version maybe able to do x+v sometime in future.
With the recent hire of Kai-Fu, it is an natural extension for them - imagine being able to issue voice commands to G Maps on your cell…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I think that Google is trying to purchase Opera because they want to have a good start on a powerful web browser, that they can use to create a virtual web environment for users to log onto and have a desktop where they can have access to a variety of programs - photoshop, games, stored movies and music, and other programs users would want, similar to what microsoft is doing. That way anyone can have access to a very powerful environment, while only needed a computer powerful enough to process a webpage with a decent amount of dynamic data. I’m sure a lot of people would pay for it, if you can keep people away from the complications of actually running an operating system, and keep them in a controlled environment where they don’t have to worry about the computer crashing, or viruses or updates, then a lot of people would pay for it just for the simplicity of it, and having everything they want through a web interface where rather than installing a program, users selected what they wanted to use in a simple point and click, they would probably setup prices for having access to different programs.
As for not believing it because they are strong supporters of Mozilla/Firefox, I don’t think they are trying to take over the web browsing market, at least for now… I think they just want to have full control over a web environment, so they can create just a portal to their virtual environment, and then possibly have Mozilla/Firefox running inside that. I’ve been thinking that google was going to do something like this for a while, so I don’t have much trouble believing that they plan on purchasing Opera, it would give them a quick start, and why program something thats already been done?
What is wrong with Google expanding? As long as Google continues to generally “play nice,” the choice is up to the user whether or not they want to hate it. It seems to me that too much of this, “NOOO! GOGLE $UCKS!” stems from the miconception that “Google is the new Microsoft!” Uh, people? Let’s not destroy Google by attempting to launch a user-grown FUD campaign against the “Googleopoly” when there IS NO MONOPOLY (quite yet). Compare the percentage of users who use Windows on their computers versus the percentage of searches that go toward Google. If Google chose to buy Opera (which I doubt, for the Firefox-support reason), it would just serve to boost Opera’s visibiliy. When has Google ever messed up software that it acquires? Please, if you’re going to diss Google, think through your reasons before you attack. Thank you.
dammit… they would be hell for web developers t target all these browsers unless they all show “true” respect to web standards :/
http://hopey.netfonds.no/history.php?paper=OPERA.OSE
It does look like someone
a) have heard the rumors and buy OR
b) are spreading them themselves to up the stock price.
True or not, it does appear to be something in this story - a) truth or b) people who think it’s true..
I think Google’s acquisition as vital move for Opera’s existence.
With the rise of AJAX, websites are becoming increasingly complex, making it MUCH harder and time consuming to debug and support every flavored browser. This will slowly leave my much loved opera in the dust for something out of their control. Opera doesn’t even have full support with Google/yahoo mail, just wait to every webmaster and their dogs start making IE tested AJAX powered websites it will be hell. With Google’s backing, it would be able to increase it’s market share to continue to exist.
Google could even make exclusive web apps or features utilising opera’s advanced standards implementations to attract many new users, something that only Google’s mindshare could pull off.
I think, it is a big hoax. I don’t think Google would have any such plan. Even if it does, I don’t think Opera will acquiese. What about Mozilla? Is Google not attracted towards it?
Opera sucks. Why they would opt to buy it is beyond me.
Opera is a great browser. Always has been state of the art.
Interesting to note who owns the domain: http://www.gbrowser.com - not that there is any evidence they have plans for opera though.
Opera rocks, it’s faster and smaller than FF. FF just started (relatively speaking) doing what Opera has been doing for YEARS. Just b/c Google buys some company with a great product doesn’t necessarily mean that they will rename it: think Picasa, unless you count them adding a 2 at the end of the name.
I think Google and opera is incompatible. It’ll be more possible if Google makes an enhanced closed-source browser based on Firefox. Look at the promotion milleage that Firefox is getting from Google, especially with AdSense referrals. Isn’t it just that Google goes for Mozilla’s.
This is obviously a load of rubbish, there’s no incentive at all for Google to buy Opera.
The main reasons to buy a company (and thus, it’s product range) are:
1) To integrate some functionality into an existing product.
Obviously there is no existing product, so this one doesn’t apply.
2) To rebrand the product and sell as their own.
Considering that Opera has reached minimal market penetration now, it’s fair to classify it as a niche product that is going to continue to grow, but only slightly above the growth of the Internet population.
That said, why would Google be interested? It wouldn’t make business sense, unless they plan to change the product offering, in which case they would have just made a new product to start with.
If they wanted their own web browser, they’d probably launch one based on Firefox - it’d cost a lot less than acquiring an entire company and most of the work is done (plus they have close links with the developers).
3) To eliminate it from the market to make way for their own similar offering.
Again, there’s no such offering and it doesn’t sound like something Google would do. Google isn’t Microsoft.
Does Google want to have its own *Platform*?
Google Browser (bundled with Google Desktop and Google Talk) + Google Personalized Homepage + Gmail. What is next thing? OpenOffice?
You forgot:
4) To obtain an existing product and improve upon it.
Obviously this is why Google would want to buy Opera. Google doesn’t have a browser yet. And they certainly are a perfect candidate to have one. But why build when they can buy one and improve upon it. It’s not about rebranding. And it’s not about Opera being a niche product (it’s certainly not!) or that it has minimal penetration. Fact is that Opera is the best-crafted browser out there. The other browsers have bad cases of too many cooks in the kitchen so they have more bugs and their performance isn’t as sharp. THAT is why Google would want to buy Opera. They want a good start.
I wrote an article about it a long long time ago. (august) Behold my foresight. Tremble before my insider knowledge.
the article is at http://ithrazel.blogspot.com
iThazel, don´t expect much visitors if you dont deeplink.
Furthermore, someone said “Google isn’t Microsoft” but why did you arive to this conclusion?
Google is not a charity company.
They just have the right market and needed insight/knowledge to make it seem so.
Google is all about money.
1) None-the-less, they do offer great stuff, if you don’t bother the (anonymous) privacy compromises.
2) None-the-less, microsoft offers a great OS. They did open new doors.
- Barryke
Hi
It’s very pretty
http://mathcom.blogfa.com
i dont believe that google would buy opera but though if google buys opera IMO it wouldnt worry opera users (like me) because google would buy opera just for what opera is: fastest, safest, easiest! so no worries in every case
and methinks firefox sucks
It gets worse Opera fans. I just read that Microsoft is buying Opera. ann0minus