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Why would they foster such a strong ecosystem of applications only to stab them in the back? I think purchasing existing third party apps to fill these holes wo

Why would they foster such a strong ecosystem of applications only to stab them in the back? I think purchasing existing third party apps to fill these holes would make more sense both in terms of fostering less ill will the community and getting better apps than they can likely build internall. Edit: other posts* state that Twitter has not yet decided if it will use an existing URL shorter or build out its own. * http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/04/15/twitter-launch-link-shortener/?awesm=tnw.to_15xhQ&utm_medium=tnw.to-twitter&utm_source=direct-tnw.to&utm_content=twitter-publisher-main http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/04/15/twitter-launch-link-sh...

bradgessler 17y ago
Because bit.ly took on a round of funding which probably made them too expensive for Twitter to buy. http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/01/bit-ly-1-5-million/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/01/bit-ly-1-5-million/ Would you pay millions of dollars for an URL shortner or build your own?
- terryjsmith 17y ago
  Unfair question: I'm a developer so I would very likely to build my own :) But from a business perspective I would definitely consider buying it; Bitly in particular has a lot of valuable technology that Twitter could monetize on. Bitly seems to be the default in these discussions and it's clearly the market leader, but there are other companies to consider. I think even starting discussions with another company would force Bitly's asking price down considerably. They may talk about how Twitter is _only_ 30% to 40%* of their traffic, but no business wants to lose those kind of numbers. * http://www.businessinsider.com/google-and-twitter-wanted-to-buy-but-bitly-is-waiting-for-a-big-f-ing-number-2010-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/google-and-twitter-wanted-to-...
  - jakarta 17y ago
    Really? I mean to me, it seems like Twitter is really holding all the cards here. Unfortunately, it seems like an acquisition of Bitly would really amount to charity because if they wanted, they could easily come out with their own competing service which would likely be adopted simply because it's easier to use. Presumably it would be right there on your twitter page or better yet, automatic.
  - bradgessler 17y ago
    Would you buy it if it was over valued? If Google and Twitter really considered acquiring bit.ly, they must have arrived at the same conclusion at the end of their due diligence that it just wan't worth it. Running the numbers for these types of deals isn't rocket science and if something costs too much, you're not going to buy it.
dnsworks 17y ago
One word: Sharecropping. This is my big concern with the current trend of turning websites into platforms. Any share-cropped idea that would be profitable to do in-house and is in line with the business goals will eventually be done in-house.
- binspace 17y ago
  Good point, however bit.ly has a good customer base for a very simple product. Besides, I imagine that Twitter will have an api for their shortener + analytics, so bit.ly can still integrate. Also, bit.ly can make a play to service multiple social networks. Simply put, they must innovate or die.
  - nl 17y ago
    There's a haiku in that: Dev sharecropping? The platform must progress. Innovate or die!
    - binspace 16y ago
      Hmm, not quite a Haiku... Maybe, Theres Dev sharecropping? The platform must progress now. Innovate or die!
  - patio11 17y ago
    Also, bit.ly can make a play to service multiple social networks. Is there a rich ecosystem of social networks who have all made the same design flaw that Twitter did, fixing which is bit.ly's only reason for existing? And did the social networks in this rich ecosystem all decline to fix the problem for themselves despite the fact that it can be hammered out by a junior engineer in an afternoon?
    - binspace 16y ago
      Well I was thinking they could evolve a bit. Maybe with their analytics?
  - 17y ago

bradgessler 17y ago

Because bit.ly took on a round of funding which probably made them too expensive for Twitter to buy. http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/01/bit-ly-1-5-million/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/01/bit-ly-1-5-million/ Would you pay millions of dollars for an URL shortner or build your own?

terryjsmith 17y ago
Unfair question: I'm a developer so I would very likely to build my own :) But from a business perspective I would definitely consider buying it; Bitly in particular has a lot of valuable technology that Twitter could monetize on. Bitly seems to be the default in these discussions and it's clearly the market leader, but there are other companies to consider. I think even starting discussions with another company would force Bitly's asking price down considerably. They may talk about how Twitter is _only_ 30% to 40%* of their traffic, but no business wants to lose those kind of numbers. * http://www.businessinsider.com/google-and-twitter-wanted-to-buy-but-bitly-is-waiting-for-a-big-f-ing-number-2010-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/google-and-twitter-wanted-to-...
- jakarta 17y ago
  Really? I mean to me, it seems like Twitter is really holding all the cards here. Unfortunately, it seems like an acquisition of Bitly would really amount to charity because if they wanted, they could easily come out with their own competing service which would likely be adopted simply because it's easier to use. Presumably it would be right there on your twitter page or better yet, automatic.
- bradgessler 17y ago
  Would you buy it if it was over valued? If Google and Twitter really considered acquiring bit.ly, they must have arrived at the same conclusion at the end of their due diligence that it just wan't worth it. Running the numbers for these types of deals isn't rocket science and if something costs too much, you're not going to buy it.

dnsworks 17y ago

One word: Sharecropping. This is my big concern with the current trend of turning websites into platforms. Any share-cropped idea that would be profitable to do in-house and is in line with the business goals will eventually be done in-house.

binspace 17y ago
Good point, however bit.ly has a good customer base for a very simple product. Besides, I imagine that Twitter will have an api for their shortener + analytics, so bit.ly can still integrate. Also, bit.ly can make a play to service multiple social networks. Simply put, they must innovate or die.
- nl 17y ago
  There's a haiku in that: Dev sharecropping? The platform must progress. Innovate or die!
  - binspace 16y ago
    Hmm, not quite a Haiku... Maybe, Theres Dev sharecropping? The platform must progress now. Innovate or die!
- patio11 17y ago
  Also, bit.ly can make a play to service multiple social networks. Is there a rich ecosystem of social networks who have all made the same design flaw that Twitter did, fixing which is bit.ly's only reason for existing? And did the social networks in this rich ecosystem all decline to fix the problem for themselves despite the fact that it can be hammered out by a junior engineer in an afternoon?
  - binspace 16y ago
    Well I was thinking they could evolve a bit. Maybe with their analytics?
- 17y ago