Twitter downplays Google purchase rumors

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."

Stone's update comes after reports broke late last week claiming that Stone's company was in the late stages of working out a deal with Google.

Those reports pegged Google's offer as upwards of US$250 million.

Though Twitter has risen to become one of the most popular new social networking sites on the web, many within the industry have questioned the company's revenue model.

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