According to London's Web entrepreneurs, Google has been flirting with a bid for Skype, eBay's overpriced VOIP startup. Guardian blogger Jemima Kiss is just the latest to offer eBay CEO Meg Whitman advice in the guise of rumor after a $900 million writedown: Last month Portfolio's Felix Salmon recommended it sell to News Corp. Compared to its other pushes into the telecom business, like the Android cell-phone operating system and a hot pursuit of wireless spectrum, buying Skype may prove downright cheap. Skype has been running ragged ever since August's major outage. Perhaps even Google isn't above some bargain-hunting.

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