] oogle, the operator of the Web's leading search engine,
] has bought Pyra Labs, the creator of software for
] publishing Weblogs, a form of hyperlinked online journal
] that has become an increasingly popular way to distribute
] and collect information on the Web.
] Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the move was
] hailed by users of Weblogs, commonly called blogs, as a
] watershed moment for the fledgling communications medium,
] sometimes dismissed as too narrowband and self-involved
] to have a significant cultural impact.
] "People will start taking it seriously," said Matthew
] Haughey, creator of Metafilter, a widely read Weblog, and
] a former employee of Pyra. "If it's linked to off of
] Google, you're not going to have to explain what a Weblog
] is to people anymore."