7 ms·

Google Should Buy Twitter Before The IPO

36 points by ssclafani 13y ago

wellboy 13y ago
What about Amazon instead of Google.
- beambot 13y ago
  I kinda understand Google (search, advertising, social)... but how could Twitter possibly integrate w/ Amazon?
  - shrikant 13y ago
    "People who tweeted this also bought..."?
  - return0 13y ago
    140 character reviews.
  - wellboy 13y ago
    Well Bezos is interested in controlling the media.. :)
- rabino 13y ago
  This makes a whole lot of sense. Not sure if they have the cash to do it, though.
itsbits 13y ago
yea let them also control USA
- visakanv 13y ago
  Things would probably be better than they are now, really.
objclxt 13y ago
...because Google buying a loss making company for $12 billion+ on the basis of some notional 'value' to the business has worked out fantastically well for them in the past (replace 'Twitter' with 'Motorola', and replace 'data' with 'patents')...
- lubos 13y ago
  They bought YouTube when it was basically a financial and legal trainwreck...
  - johnchristopher 13y ago
    Weren't there mails exchanged between Youtube founders at the time that were going like "let us ignore those legal worries until someone big buy us, then we tell them" ? So Google didn't really get the full problem until it got its hands on it (hard to believe, maybe they bought Youtube despite that ? Can't remember).
    - raverbashing 13y ago
      I think the legal problems of YT were pretty clear even if you were outside of it.
- maaku 13y ago
  ...replace 'Twitter' with 'YouTube' and replace 'data' with 'users'? Not sure I agree with either conclusion, but I'm not sure I understand your argument either.
- batiudrami 13y ago
  Google only bought Motorola a year ago - it's far too early to judge the value of that acquisition. Plus, in terms of patents it seems like the patent wars of the past few years have pretty well calmed down. A better example would be YouTube, which I think most people would consider to be a good acquisition (I think it's profitable now?). That being said, I don't see where the money is to be made on Twitter. Anecdotally, as someone outside the bay area (24, M, Western Australia), I do not know anyone (really, not one!) who has a Twitter account which they actively tweet from [1], though a few (including me) have one which is used as a Twitter feed reader. [1] As additional context for this, I know only a couple of people my age do not have Facebook, and I have plenty of friends on Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, a few on Tumblr and even a couple on G+
skystorm 13y ago
Oh boy. "No one I know uses Google+ much, if at all." I'm getting sooo sick of this argument. Noone I know uses Twitter, but a lot of friends are active on Google+, sharing things in private. Yet I don't call Twitter a failure. It's just different groups of people that use either service, and just because you have more connections to one "side" doesn't mean the other doesn't exist...
- ivanbrussik 13y ago
  These claims that people make about Google+ are ridiculous. Sure, if you count account sign-ups then they are probably #1 but active users...no way. "Google+’s user numbers are juiced simply because Google forces the product on everyone, and if you use Google to authenticate yourself to third parties, you are using Google+" I feel the same way, I know a lot of people online that use Google+, but zero of my IRL friends use Google+ (most use FB, Instagram and Twitter).
  - bad_user 13y ago
    You're confusing the cause and the effect. Google± is not being juiced up with integrations to make G+ popular, but rather those integrations are the reason for why G+ was created in the first place. Google simply wanted a universal Google account for YouTube, Google Play, Blogger and so on. As to for why the wanted that? Well, Facebook is proving that there is value in collecting people's likes and comments, and then using those for serving ads. On the active G+ users remark, I disagree. Every YouTube user is now a G+ user. Every GPlay user that wants to write reviews is now a G+ user. So the point that their growth is not organic is rather moot.
    - dingaling 13y ago
      > Every YouTube user is now a G+ user. This statement surprises me. Casual video-viewing is a large proportion of YouTube's attraction and does not require authentication ( except for age-restricted content ). I don't have any Google accounts and I don't have any problems viewing YouTube content. Every Youtube uploader might be a G+ user, but what proportion of the audience is that? 10% at most?
officialjunk 13y ago
> I might be wrong... Key phrase in the article.
- sdoering 13y ago
  Problem is, whatever I read from Arrington, does not make me feel, that he really believes, he could be wrong. And that is my problem with most so called tech-journalists (or celebrities). They oftentimes seem to make a great show of learning. At least, this is what it seems to me.
- ulfw 13y ago
  That's the key phrase with Michael Arrington in general. That guy is not worth anyone's time.
adamnemecek 13y ago
I don't get these sorts of articles. The author did not present any sort of argument beyond the implied "because it would be cool". Does he actually think that at no point has it occurred to anyone at Google to buy Twitter? What exactly is he expecting to accomplish with this article? Does he think that after reading this article, some Google fat cats will change their minds? I should start my own blog. First article will be "Google should buy Uber so that once they roll out driverless cars they already have a customer base".
- Shank 13y ago
  [Do you not know who Michael Arrington is?] The argument is that Google+ is unsuccessful, and Twitter is, on the other hand. Twitter is booming with growth and is a prime target for Google if their goal is really to own a social network with a high amount of usage and and public knowledge. Google+ is not. Arrington presents that it would be akin to Google purchasing YouTube even when it had Google Video gaining moderate traction over a slower period of time. Twitter is to YouTube as Google+ is to Google Video.
  - adamnemecek 13y ago
    I do. Does that improve the quality of the article? Your argument is assuming that Twitter and G+ are comparable products which they are not (unlike YT/Google video). So it's debatable whether Twitter has the same value to Google as a more successful version of G+. Regardless, is he really expecting that after reading this article, the people who the deciding power at Google will fall to their knees and exclaim "How could we have been so blind? It's so obvious and so genius!"?
  - kwestro 13y ago
    Twitter has NEVER made a profit. They can barely monetize their products.
    - OvidNaso 13y ago
      Which makes his youtube analogy more apropos.
staunch 13y ago
It's all about price. At $11 billion, maybe. Double or triple that, probably not a good deal.
MildlySerious 13y ago
Amongst the big players, Twitter is the one who cares the most about Open Source and transparency. I wouldn't want to see them being swallowed by Google, or anyone else for that matter.
- asadlionpk 13y ago
  is mozilla a big player?
kishor_gurtu 13y ago
Apple should buy Twitter just to delete Arrington's account.
integricho 13y ago
I think noone should buy twitter,certainly not big corporations like google.they got already too much power.
alan_cx 13y ago
At what point do monopolies become a worry? Or do they at all?
neovi 13y ago
I don't understand why he cites Google's market cap since that doesn't really support the purchase cost as "pocket change." Google has a free cash flow of ~$2.8 billion [1], so no, it wouldn't be pocket change. Twitter's data worth tens of billions? Well, CNBC is saying they've sold their data for +$47 million [2] but I don't find any clear indication of that on the SEC filing [3]. A part of me doesn't believe that data would be worth billions to Google's search team seeing that they made ~$13.8 billion just on their own data. Personally speaking (as in I have no data supporting the practicality of these thoughts), where Google could profit in buying Twitter is in using tweets for machine learning conversations, connecting geography with social interests & economic impact (Japan loves anime, US loves football, etc), and asset acquisition. [1] Pg.8 - http://investor.google.com/pdf/2013Q3_google_earnings_slides.pdf http://investor.google.com/pdf/2013Q3_google_earnings_slides... [2] http://www.cnbc.com/id/101103596 http://www.cnbc.com/id/101103596 [3] http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513390321/d564001ds1.htm#toc564001_12 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/0001193125133...
tomphoolery 13y ago
Lest we forget that Twitter has DENIED Google's advances, on multiple occasions, for a purchase. Twitter would have been sold a long time ago if Google really wanted to pay what it was worth.
r0h1n 13y ago
It is both a measure of Internet companies strength & weakness that multi-billion dollar acquisitions are taken so lightly. "Spent 3-4 years building a product which didn't become a winner? No problem, buy someone else!" "Strength" because compared to other industries, integrating two Internet companies is not that tough. Strength also because of the speed at which startups build scale and become world dominating. And the sheer amount of finance at their disposal to make these acquisitions. "Weakness" because all of it seems so ephemeral. All it takes is a few years and a leader is often a laggard. Conversely, if you don't sell out before your bubble pops, you're history. And of course there's the network effects curse - if you're not among the top few players, you might as well sell out or close down.

36 points by ssclafani 13y ago

wellboy 13y ago

What about Amazon instead of Google.

beambot 13y ago
I kinda understand Google (search, advertising, social)... but how could Twitter possibly integrate w/ Amazon?
- shrikant 13y ago
  "People who tweeted this also bought..."?
- return0 13y ago
  140 character reviews.
- wellboy 13y ago
  Well Bezos is interested in controlling the media.. :)
rabino 13y ago
This makes a whole lot of sense. Not sure if they have the cash to do it, though.

itsbits 13y ago

yea let them also control USA

visakanv 13y ago
Things would probably be better than they are now, really.

objclxt 13y ago

...because Google buying a loss making company for $12 billion+ on the basis of some notional 'value' to the business has worked out fantastically well for them in the past (replace 'Twitter' with 'Motorola', and replace 'data' with 'patents')...

lubos 13y ago
They bought YouTube when it was basically a financial and legal trainwreck...
- johnchristopher 13y ago
  Weren't there mails exchanged between Youtube founders at the time that were going like "let us ignore those legal worries until someone big buy us, then we tell them" ? So Google didn't really get the full problem until it got its hands on it (hard to believe, maybe they bought Youtube despite that ? Can't remember).
  - raverbashing 13y ago
    I think the legal problems of YT were pretty clear even if you were outside of it.
maaku 13y ago
...replace 'Twitter' with 'YouTube' and replace 'data' with 'users'? Not sure I agree with either conclusion, but I'm not sure I understand your argument either.
batiudrami 13y ago
Google only bought Motorola a year ago - it's far too early to judge the value of that acquisition. Plus, in terms of patents it seems like the patent wars of the past few years have pretty well calmed down. A better example would be YouTube, which I think most people would consider to be a good acquisition (I think it's profitable now?). That being said, I don't see where the money is to be made on Twitter. Anecdotally, as someone outside the bay area (24, M, Western Australia), I do not know anyone (really, not one!) who has a Twitter account which they actively tweet from [1], though a few (including me) have one which is used as a Twitter feed reader. [1] As additional context for this, I know only a couple of people my age do not have Facebook, and I have plenty of friends on Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, a few on Tumblr and even a couple on G+

skystorm 13y ago

Oh boy. "No one I know uses Google+ much, if at all." I'm getting sooo sick of this argument. Noone I know uses Twitter, but a lot of friends are active on Google+, sharing things in private. Yet I don't call Twitter a failure. It's just different groups of people that use either service, and just because you have more connections to one "side" doesn't mean the other doesn't exist...

ivanbrussik 13y ago
These claims that people make about Google+ are ridiculous. Sure, if you count account sign-ups then they are probably #1 but active users...no way. "Google+’s user numbers are juiced simply because Google forces the product on everyone, and if you use Google to authenticate yourself to third parties, you are using Google+" I feel the same way, I know a lot of people online that use Google+, but zero of my IRL friends use Google+ (most use FB, Instagram and Twitter).
- bad_user 13y ago
  You're confusing the cause and the effect. Google± is not being juiced up with integrations to make G+ popular, but rather those integrations are the reason for why G+ was created in the first place. Google simply wanted a universal Google account for YouTube, Google Play, Blogger and so on. As to for why the wanted that? Well, Facebook is proving that there is value in collecting people's likes and comments, and then using those for serving ads. On the active G+ users remark, I disagree. Every YouTube user is now a G+ user. Every GPlay user that wants to write reviews is now a G+ user. So the point that their growth is not organic is rather moot.
  - dingaling 13y ago
    > Every YouTube user is now a G+ user. This statement surprises me. Casual video-viewing is a large proportion of YouTube's attraction and does not require authentication ( except for age-restricted content ). I don't have any Google accounts and I don't have any problems viewing YouTube content. Every Youtube uploader might be a G+ user, but what proportion of the audience is that? 10% at most?

officialjunk 13y ago

> I might be wrong... Key phrase in the article.

sdoering 13y ago
Problem is, whatever I read from Arrington, does not make me feel, that he really believes, he could be wrong. And that is my problem with most so called tech-journalists (or celebrities). They oftentimes seem to make a great show of learning. At least, this is what it seems to me.
ulfw 13y ago
That's the key phrase with Michael Arrington in general. That guy is not worth anyone's time.

adamnemecek 13y ago

I don't get these sorts of articles. The author did not present any sort of argument beyond the implied "because it would be cool". Does he actually think that at no point has it occurred to anyone at Google to buy Twitter? What exactly is he expecting to accomplish with this article? Does he think that after reading this article, some Google fat cats will change their minds? I should start my own blog. First article will be "Google should buy Uber so that once they roll out driverless cars they already have a customer base".

Shank 13y ago
[Do you not know who Michael Arrington is?] The argument is that Google+ is unsuccessful, and Twitter is, on the other hand. Twitter is booming with growth and is a prime target for Google if their goal is really to own a social network with a high amount of usage and and public knowledge. Google+ is not. Arrington presents that it would be akin to Google purchasing YouTube even when it had Google Video gaining moderate traction over a slower period of time. Twitter is to YouTube as Google+ is to Google Video.
- adamnemecek 13y ago
  I do. Does that improve the quality of the article? Your argument is assuming that Twitter and G+ are comparable products which they are not (unlike YT/Google video). So it's debatable whether Twitter has the same value to Google as a more successful version of G+. Regardless, is he really expecting that after reading this article, the people who the deciding power at Google will fall to their knees and exclaim "How could we have been so blind? It's so obvious and so genius!"?
- kwestro 13y ago
  Twitter has NEVER made a profit. They can barely monetize their products.
  - OvidNaso 13y ago
    Which makes his youtube analogy more apropos.

staunch 13y ago

It's all about price. At $11 billion, maybe. Double or triple that, probably not a good deal.

MildlySerious 13y ago

Amongst the big players, Twitter is the one who cares the most about Open Source and transparency. I wouldn't want to see them being swallowed by Google, or anyone else for that matter.

asadlionpk 13y ago
is mozilla a big player?

kishor_gurtu 13y ago

Apple should buy Twitter just to delete Arrington's account.

integricho 13y ago

I think noone should buy twitter,certainly not big corporations like google.they got already too much power.

alan_cx 13y ago

At what point do monopolies become a worry? Or do they at all?

neovi 13y ago

I don't understand why he cites Google's market cap since that doesn't really support the purchase cost as "pocket change." Google has a free cash flow of ~$2.8 billion [1], so no, it wouldn't be pocket change. Twitter's data worth tens of billions? Well, CNBC is saying they've sold their data for +$47 million [2] but I don't find any clear indication of that on the SEC filing [3]. A part of me doesn't believe that data would be worth billions to Google's search team seeing that they made ~$13.8 billion just on their own data. Personally speaking (as in I have no data supporting the practicality of these thoughts), where Google could profit in buying Twitter is in using tweets for machine learning conversations, connecting geography with social interests & economic impact (Japan loves anime, US loves football, etc), and asset acquisition. [1] Pg.8 - http://investor.google.com/pdf/2013Q3_google_earnings_slides.pdf http://investor.google.com/pdf/2013Q3_google_earnings_slides... [2] http://www.cnbc.com/id/101103596 http://www.cnbc.com/id/101103596 [3] http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513390321/d564001ds1.htm#toc564001_12 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/0001193125133...

tomphoolery 13y ago

Lest we forget that Twitter has DENIED Google's advances, on multiple occasions, for a purchase. Twitter would have been sold a long time ago if Google really wanted to pay what it was worth.

r0h1n 13y ago

It is both a measure of Internet companies strength & weakness that multi-billion dollar acquisitions are taken so lightly. "Spent 3-4 years building a product which didn't become a winner? No problem, buy someone else!" "Strength" because compared to other industries, integrating two Internet companies is not that tough. Strength also because of the speed at which startups build scale and become world dominating. And the sheer amount of finance at their disposal to make these acquisitions. "Weakness" because all of it seems so ephemeral. All it takes is a few years and a leader is often a laggard. Conversely, if you don't sell out before your bubble pops, you're history. And of course there's the network effects curse - if you're not among the top few players, you might as well sell out or close down.