Google buys syndicator FeedBurner

Internet juggernaut Google Inc. said it purchased FeedBurner, which helps bloggers and podcasters syndicate and make money from their online content, for an undisclosed sum.

Although FeedBurner is a small company with just 30 employees, the buzz about its service has been steadily building as it helped distribute ads through the rapidly expanding universe of bloggers, podcasters and other sites that send out headlines and links through Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, feeds.

More than 431,000 Web publishers belong to FeedBurner’s network and the 4-year-old company says it delivers about 67 million feeds to its subscribers each day.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said it would allow FeedBurner to remain based in Chicago, but it hadn’t made a decision on whether the brand would be retained.