Murdoch’s Search Engine

It’s interesting to see how Rupert Murdoch has come around to the Internet, although it does have something of the feel of the late 1990s to it: Bloomberg.com reports that

News Corp., the fourth-largest media company, is in talks to buy a controlling interest in an Internet search engine as the company seeks to build advertising sales on the Web.

The investment would be in “what we think is a wonderful search engine,” News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, 74, said yesterday on a conference call with analysts after the company announced earnings. Murdoch said the price will be  “insignificant’” and declined to identify the business.

This is part of a $2 billion push in into the Internet, which seems to centre on plans for

a site featuring a search engine and links to Web pages focusing on News Corp.’s movie, television and sports businesses, Murdoch said. “We already have the assets to be a dominant player on the Web,” Murdoch said.

That sounds horribly like a portal of old, to me. I do hope Murdoch gets the Internet, and isn’t just grabbing it.

News Corp., Bloomberg says, has bought Intermix Media Inc. for $580 million, owner of the Web sites Flowgo.Com and My Space.com, and has also recently purchased Australian real estate Web site Real Estate.com.au for $92 million, and Scout Media Inc., a Seattle-based owner of 200 sports Web sits and 47 magazines for about $60 million.