“Bear Stearns maintained an ‘outperform’ rating on Google and said the Internet search giant may be looking to expand into the MP3 downloading business,” Peter Kang reports for Forbes. “‘We believe that Google is in the midst of creating its own iTunes competitor, which we’ve dubbed ‘Google Tunes’,’ the analyst wrote in a client note issued today. ‘We think this is a logical step, now that the nascent Google Video product has been introduced.’ Analyst Robert Peck speculated that it makes sense for Google to create a rival for the popular iTunes service by Apple Computer, given the explosive growth of unique visitors to the iTunes’ Web site.”

‘’We would expect Google to rollout a Beta service within 3 to 6 months. We note that Google has not confirmed our expectations, and that our thinking is based on Mosaic theory,’ said Peck. ‘However, we do think this fits with Google’s recent moves and its ultimate goal of organizing the world’s information,’” Kang reports.

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