WhatsApp says it's not selling to Google after all

WhatsApp says it's not selling to Google after all
Just look at that logo potential

Speculation was rife yesterday that messaging app WhatsApp was reportedly in talks to sell itself to Google for a nice little (billion-dollar) sum.

But the company has now denied that this is the case - although it's not clear whether the fact is that talks have ended or that talks were never happening.

Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp's business development head, told AllThingsDigital that the company is in fact "not holding sales talks with Google", though declined to say more than that.

Is it or isn't it?

This could mean several things. Yes, it could all have been nonsense. Or, Google and WhatsApp may have been in talks at an earlier point, but after the app demanded more than was offered, as rumoured - said to be around $1bn (£653m/AUS$963m) - Google walked away.

Or, Arora is just throwing us all off the scent. Certainly, Google's interest in the app makes perfect sense right now.

Especially as we're hearing a lot about Google's Babel service (previously known as Babble) which will allegedly place its messaging, chat and VoIP services on the same platform.

If a deal were to take place with Google, we'd expect to see WhatsApp also sharing the same roof. And given the cross-platform success of WhatsApp, that could be a very good thing indeed.

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.