Rumors of an iTunes partnership with Google have had
a favorable effect on Apple Computer’s share price. The deal, which would allow Google to offer a version of Apple's iTunes music store through its search site, would effectively pair the USA's leading online music store with its leading search engine, promoting the legal downloading of music. Currently, Apple is still speaking of the stories of the deal as "rumors and speculation", but with news coming from so many sources it seems hard to deny. Already, the two companies have got into bed together to promote their services on a smaller scale, for example offering Apple iTunes-signed labels a discount on Google's Adwords advertising service. Shares of Apple closed regular trading up $2.10, or 4.8%, on Friday to $46.10. As of 10:30 am eastern time on Monday, shares continued to rise some 2.69% to $47.34 on heavy volume trading.
