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Yes, Twitter bought Summize

Rumors of the acquisition are confirmed via a video interview of Twitter founder Evan Williams posted to TechCrunch.

Caroline McCarthy Former Staff writer, CNET News
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos.
Caroline McCarthy

Twitter has indeed acquired Summize, a nifty search engine built specifically to index Twitter posts, TechCrunch reported Tuesday along with a video of Twitter founder Evan Williams talking about it.

The news follows sporadic rumors that were accompanied by both shaky confirmations and shaky denials. An under-the-radar blogger, Josh Chandler, reported the news first; GigaOM's Om Malik was the first big name to "confirm" it.

Some logistics, as reported by TechCrunch: five of Summize's six employees will become Twitter employees, minus founder Jay Verdy, who will depart the company for "a new project." Naturally, no one's naming numbers--though the Silicon Alley Insider puts it at around $15 million. The transaction was, reportedly, mostly in stock.

So what does this mean? Basically, that Twitter won't have to build its own search engine. Simple enough.

This post was updated at 10:27 a.m. PT.