Apple snaps up social media analytics firm Topsy Labs
Apple has completed a buyout of Topsy Labs, a social media analytics firm which specialises in tracking customer sentiment through Twitter, for a rumoured £122m.
Topsy benefits from rare access to Twitter’s entire data stream, enabling it to create a searchable database of all 400bn tweets which have been sent since the microblog was founded. This data mine allows Topsy to establish who the most influential tweeters are, as well as what terms are trending and what effect specific campaigns have.
Apple has thus far shied away from the social media arena but this purchase could allow the tech giant to more accurately gauge what is popular with consumers… and tailor their products accordingly.
Commenting on the purchase Ron Schott, head of Spring Creek, Mediabrands, said: "Apple buying Topsy is a signal the company is looking toward bringing more timely relevance to their digital content products - not to mention iAds. Using the real-time pulse of conversation, combined with their app and content download algorithms, Apple can offer the most timely and interesting content as part of their iTunes, iTunes Radio, App Store and iBooks content experiences. When you combine the real-time access to conversations with their iAd product, Apple all of a sudden brings a bit of "right now" to that world as well.
"Ping was a good idea, but flawed in its attempt at building another network when the conversations and signals are already out there - Topsy, as one of the go-to sources for Twitter's streaming information feed, solves that problem and brings a wealth of knowledge around mining the social sphere for triggers and trends. I don't think this means you'll start seeing Apple getting "social" as a brand - they don't really have to. They let iTunes into the social space, but it's not something that will make or break Apple - a company with a small, but extremely dedicated fan base that makes them a whole lot of cash."
It is Apple’s second purchase in two months following the acquisition of motion detection specialists PrimeSense.