Twitter's interest in Yahoo was a flyer: source

Executives from the sinking micro-blogging website Twitter have met Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to discuss merger possibilities, the media reported.

At the management meeting, Twitter and Yahoo executives spent several hours hashing out Yahoo's financials and whether a strategic combo might make sense, a source close to the talks told the New York Post on Friday.

"Twitter is the destination for instant news and Yahoo has a lot of eyeballs on its site. The idea is not as crazy as you might think," the source was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Twitter appeared mainly interested in taking information out of Yahoo and it bowed out of the bidding process soon. Twitter CEO Dorsey did not show up for the Yahoo meeting.

"When your CEO does not show up for a management meeting, you have to wonder how serious it was," the source said, adding that Twitter's interest was not driven by "some huge thesis - it was a flyer".

Meanwhile, a Twitter spokesperson has said that the company does not comment on rumour and speculation.

Yahoo officials declined to comment.

Second-round bids for Yahoo's core internet business are due early next week with telecom giant Verizon still seen as leading the pack.