The Mountain View, Calif., company, whose name has become synonymous with Internet searches, is snooping around for a small office in the Triangle.

Brokers for Google are scouting spaces smaller than 5,000 square feet that would be available early next year. But it's not clear what the space would be used for.

An office that size could accommodate a couple dozen people -- an indication that Google may not be planning anything big.

Google officials did not return calls seeking comment. Warren Wixen, a broker at Bailes & Associates in Los Angeles who has represented Google in real estate negotiations, declined to comment.

But the search coincides with a swirl of speculation that Google is planning to buy a local business. On Monday, Jason Caplain, a partner with a Raleigh venture capital firm, Southern Capitol Ventures, reported on his Weblog a rumor that Google is about to announce the opening of a local office.

"If it is true, this would allow Google to tap into ... [Research Triangle Park's] high concentration of engineering talent," Caplain wrote in his blog, a type of online sounding board. "My guess is that they will probably announce an acquisition here rather than start building their team from scratch."

Caplain declined to comment further when reached by telephone. "That's all the information I can share at this point," he said.

Caplain's blog, Southeast VC, chronicles business and technology trends and venture capital investing in the region.

These days, no rumor goes unnoticed in the blogosphere.

Andy Beal, CEO of Fortune Interactive, a Raleigh Internet marketing marketing company, noted Caplain's posting on his own blog and then went on to speculate on possible acquisition targets.

"It would make sense for Google to open an office here," Beal said in a phone interview. "It would certainly shine the spotlight on the Triangle."

Google has become a Juggernaut that ranks with Microsoft and Intel in its influence in the world of computing. Likewise, its success in attracting advertising dollars is hurting traditional media.

And the stock, which sold for $85 when the company went public last year, is a Wall Street darling that recently passed $400.

Google has at least a dozen U.S. sales offices across the country, the nearest in Atlanta. The company recently ran full-page ads in national newspapers seeking salespeople and others for its outpost offices.

Google is no stranger to the Triangle. If you "Google" Morrisville-based ChannelAdvisor and Google itself, you'll find blog postings about a Google executive, David Scacco, director of the company's vertical markets groups, speaking at a ChannelAdvisor event.

ChannelAdvisor's software and services help companies sell products online.

Indeed, Beal speculated on his blog that ChannelAdvisor could be a Google acquisition target. Beal also suggested that Durham-based Motricity, a fast-growing mobile software and content company, could be a target.

Caplain's Southern Capitol is an investor in both ChannelAdvisor and Motricity.

Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor, declined to comment, saying his company doesn't address rumors and speculation. Motricity spokesman Les Hamashima responded similarly.

Wingo has another, unrelated link to Google -- he owns stock.

(Staff writers David Ranii and Jonathan B. Cox contributed to this report.)

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