April 2, 2008 12:14 PM PDT

Google to buy Expedia? That's the rumor

Posted by Elinor Mills

Updated 1:55 p.m. PDT with no comment from Expedia.

Correction 12:45 p.m. PDT: This blog initially misstated the day the price of Expedia shares rose on rumors of a possible bid by Google. It was Tuesday.

Does Google want to buy travel site Expedia? A Wall Street analyst referred to rumors Tuesday morning that Google could make a bid and that drove up the stock of Expedia about 9 percent at one point, according to Reuters.

The rumors are just that though, at this point.

The move doesn't exactly make sense given that Google has shied away from being a company or buying companies that create content. It's likely one of the latest off-the-wall Google acquisition rumors that end up going nowhere (like the rumor a few months ago that Google was buying CNET).

But it does give a short-term boost to the company rumored to be acquired and Expedia, the largest online travel site, likely won't argue with that.

Representatives from both companies said they don't comment on rumors or speculation.