Twitter downplays Google purchase rumours

Twitter has become one of the most popular social networking sites on the web

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has issued an informal response to reports that his company is about to be bought by Google.

In a posting to Twitter's official blog, Stone dismissed the reports of an imminent acquisition with the phrase "sometimes we talk".

"It should come as no surprise that Twitter engages in discussions with other companies regularly and on a variety of subjects," wrote Stone. "Our goal is to build a profitable, independent company and we're just getting started."

Reports last week claimed that Twitter was in the late stages of working out a deal with Google. The figure involved was upwards of $250m (£170m).

Twitter has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become one of the most popular social networking sites on the web, but many in the industry have questioned the company's revenue model.

In an effort to generate more revenue, the company has undertaken a number of new projects such as improving search results and tracking topic trends.