New York-based AOL has been in talks to acquire technology blog TechCrunch, media reports suggested on Monday.

It is expected that the news would be announced by AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong when he makes an appearance at the three-day TechCrunch Disrupt conference that will end on Wednesday.

The talk of the acquisition surfaced after TechCrunch's founder Michael Arrington expressed his frustration with blogging and took a break from it last year.

Also, at an investor conference last week, AOL's chief hinted that the company wants to target "tech influencers" such as Engadget - a rival blog to TechCrunch that AOL bought in 2005.

TechCrunch is one of the most influential blogs in Silicon Valley. It owns a group of technology sites besides Techcrunch.com, including sites dedicated to mobile services and gadgets.