Google said to have expressed interest in buying Snap for $30-bn last year

Google is repoted to have floated an offer of at least $30 billion to buy Snap Inc in early 2016.

Business Insider reported that three people, ranging from people inside and close to the company, separately confirmed they had heard the buzz and the price tag, which one termed as an "open secret" among Snap's upper ranks and certain tech industry circles.

According to Business Insider, it first heard the rumour of Google's $30+ billion interest in Snap last year, and more accounts of the discussions from more insiders over the past several days.

It was not clear whether the discussions reported by insiders were formal, but Snap and Google have been known for a long time to be close. Informal discussions between companies in the tech world are not unknown, according to commentators.

Meanwhile, last afternoon, CNBC reported that multiple ad, creative and "influencer" agencies it talked with, said that multiple issues, including "a lack of measurement data, disinterest among social media celebrities, confusion about the platform, and general indifference towards advertising agencies," were discouraging  agency clients from spending on Snapchat. It added, the same agencies said Facebook's Instagram "is beating Snap on all those fronts."

Agencies reportedly had complained "across the board" about a dearth of data - for example, the fact that Snap doesn't share how many followers an influencer has, but only provides a "score".

The report further noted that many users choose to skip the video ads run against its Snapchat Stories feature. Challenges in finding Snapchat Stories content, which do not become immediately visible when one loads the Snapchat app, were also lamented.

Snap shares were down to fresh post-IPO lows last morning following publishing of the article.

However, they were up slightly following Business Insider reporting citing sources that Alphabet Inc floated a $30 billion-plus buyout offer in early 2016.