By Yoree Koh and Tess Stynes
Twitter Inc. agreed to acquire data partner Gnip, in a sign that
the messaging service wants to increase its role in providing
analysis of tweets to advertisers.
Financial terms of the deal weren't provided.
Gnip is one of a handful of Twitter partners with access to the
so-called "fire hose"--the full stream of tweets since 2006, which
now average roughly 500 million a day. Gnip then analyzes this
information and resells it to its customers.
The acquisition of a key data reseller marks a shift for
Twitter, which has left such analysis to partners. The company last
year received $70.3 million in revenue, or 11% of its annual total,
from licensing its data.
The deal also shows the value of such data and reflects the
growing demand from advertisers for better information.
In a blog post, Gnip Chief Executive Chris Moody said the
acquisition "signals clear recognition that investments in social
data are healthier than ever."
Analyzing the global conversation that occurs on social media
sites like Twitter and Facebook is becoming big business. Companies
like Gnip study the constant stream of real-time opinions and mine
it for insights into how people feel about products and brands.
Last year, Apple Inc. acquired Topsy Labs Inc., a Gnip rival,
for more than $200 million, according to people familiar with the
matter.
Another Gnip rival Data Sift secured $42 million in funding in
December--triple the amount the company raised the previous
year--for a total of $70 million to date. A representative for Data
Sift was unavailable to comment on what the recent deals for rivals
Gnip and Topsy Labs mean for the company.
Twitter said Tuesday that it plans to continue making its data
available to Gnip's growing customer base, as well as use Gnip's
staff in efforts to extend its own data platform.
Gnip serves customers in more 40 countries, according to its
website. Gnip's website said the company was the first authorized
reseller of Twitter data and the first company to offer access to
the complete archive of publicly available tweets. Gnip also
provides access to social data sources other than Twitter,
including Facebook Inc. and Tumblr Inc.
Mr. Moody said in his blog post that the company joined with
Twitter four years ago and has delivered more than 2.3 trillion
tweets to customers. The company expects the acquisition by Twitter
will enable it to support a broader set of uses.
Write to Yoree Koh at yoree.koh@wsj.com and Tess Stynes at
tess.stynes@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires