It’s been rumored for a while and strategically leaked to Michael Arrington over at Techcrunch, but the big G just made the official announcement. They’ve agreed to acquire video sharing monolith, YouTube.com, for $1.65 Billion in Stock. From the Google Press Release:

Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock

Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google’s expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.

Update: More on the story at Techcrunch, Laughing Squid, MSNBC and The Blog Herald.

[tags]Google,Youtube,Google Buys Youtube[/tags]