Google Still Wants Hulu, Willing to Pay $2 Billion; Amazon, Yahoo! and DirecTV on Board as Well?

But isn't that chump change compared to what Hulu is or will be worth? The Wall Street Journal (via Business Insider) reports that Google GOOG is still aggressively seeking ownership of Hulu. With a price tag ranging from a paltry $500 million to a questionably low $2 billion, Google stands to profit greatly from the streaming video service. The search engine giant has already shown its Hulu envy with Cosmic Panda, a silly-sounding experiment that converts YouTube into a Hulu-esque video player. If you don't want Google (which has already invaded our cable boxes) to take over the world of entertainment, never fear: it is just one of many companies interested in acquiring Hulu. Yahoo! YHOO, Amazon AMZN, and DirecTV DTV are said to be among the corporations planning to make a bid. Interestingly, Apple AAPL – which reportedly expressed an interest in Hulu last month – was not on the list of expected bidders. According to the Wall Street Journal, initial bids are due this Wednesday. Follow me @LouisBedigian