LinkedIn is buying Rapportive, a Gmail add-on that shows social data about contacts as you email them, according to a report.

The professional network offered Rapportive "low teens" in millions of dollars worth of cash, according to All Things D, which cited "sources familiar with the negotiations."

The same sources told the website that the deal has not closed yet.

Rapportive is a sidebar for Gmail that displays information from relevant email contacts' social media accounts, including LinkedIn, as you open and compose emails. It also allows you to add those email contacts as friends on social networks without leaving your inbox.

The startup's website says its plugin looks up more than 20 million contacts every month — which, considering how many emails can come to one account, doesn't necessarily give much insight into the size of its userbase. It competes with other personal relationship management products such as Smartr and Mingly

Gmail also released a "people widget" in May that had similar features to Rapportive, and the startup responded by integrating the widget into its product.

Representatives from LinkedIn and Rapportive could not be reached for comment.

UPDATE: A LinkedIn representative declined to respond, saying the company does not comment on rumors.





