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Apple Buys Twitter Analytics Startup Topsy Labs

68 points by coloneltcb 13y ago

link not behind paywall: http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMjEwNDIyWj

esolyt 13y ago
Flagged because it's behind a login wall.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  As always, with the WSJ - just do a google search for the title and you can bypass the paywall: This worked for me: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230485480... (might be time limited though)
coloneltcb 13y ago
non paywall link: http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMjEwNDIyWj http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304...
kristiandupont 13y ago
Off topic, but it really annoys me when they write "according to people familiar with the matter." There is very little information in that statement!
- gilgoomesh 13y ago
  Deals like this are usually confidential so the sources can't reveal themselves for fear of breaching contract. Yeah, it leaves you in a situation where the information is just a rumor. All you can do is trust (or not) the original publisher of the rumour. The Wall Street Journal is usually pretty good with this type of Apple tidbit.
brandnewlow 13y ago
The Topsy API is the best way to surface "trend" type data from Twitter. I'm a little confused as to why Apple would make this acquisition, but of the companies doing things in the "make the Twitter firehose accessible" space, Topsy has had the best product for some time.
- andrewhillman 13y ago
  I think they will use this to tweak AppStore app ranking algorithm. User app reviews only go so far.
  - codyb 13y ago
    I was also thinking possibly using this data and other streams to possibly give Siri the ability to answer more accurately questions like "Siri, what is going on in the United States today?" (Or where I live, work, etc). Just in case Siri was already really good I gave it a check but it was mostly lame USA facts on twitter, and a news reel of links to a somewhat better representation of an answer to the question but mostly foreign relations and bigger picture stories where the USA is mentioned explicitly. I have a feeling things like "A catastrophic tornado in Tennessee…" which only mentions that state probably wouldn't come up as readily yet. And that is definitely an incredibly hard question to tackle too.
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  Their expertise could be used in any number of ways in Apple's various server side services imo.
- gsharma 13y ago
  I was confused too. However, I think they are going to bring in-app search (like Android) to iOS. They can always auto index the apps on the device and then send the data to their servers. Alternatively they may also relase APIs for developers to push user specific content to their servers to index items (more like ElasticSearch or AWS CloudSearch.) $200M is a lot of money to just improve the app store search. They might end up using it for that too.
mbesto 13y ago
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the deal but wouldn't comment further. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," she said without elaborating further. Question for those more experienced here, but doesn't "purpose or plans" of acquisitions generally fall under things that you have a duty to share with your shareholders?
- aaronblohowiak 13y ago
  Depending on the acquisition cost as a percentage of market cap, not really.
- bobbles 13y ago
  AFAIK they are able to stay fairly quiet unless the purchase reaches a certain threshold amount.
- brown9-2 13y ago
  "Duty" is somewhat subjective. They also have a "duty" to those shareholders to keep those plans secret if they deem that secrecy is beneficial for the business plans.
- pbreit 13y ago
  Not on a spend as small as that (0.04% of market cap).
Tycho 13y ago
For Siri perhaps?
- michaeldorian 13y ago
  IMHO, bingo.
- threeseed 13y ago
  Or possibly even just for iTunes Store / App Store. Knowing trends that are currently popular would help provide better results.
Gaurav322 13y ago
Now, apple understands the power of tweet. But, I feel sorry for them. "Twitter is not for sale" Haha. Try with other products now, Apple.
MrJagil 13y ago
As i see it, this is another move to strengthen Siri... edit: As Tycho said before me...
panacea 13y ago
Will Topsy still get access to the Twitter firehose?

68 points by coloneltcb 13y ago

link not behind paywall: http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMjEwNDIyWj

esolyt 13y ago

Flagged because it's behind a login wall.

ghshephard 13y ago
As always, with the WSJ - just do a google search for the title and you can bypass the paywall: This worked for me: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230485480... (might be time limited though)

coloneltcb 13y ago

non paywall link: http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMjEwNDIyWj http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304...

kristiandupont 13y ago

Off topic, but it really annoys me when they write "according to people familiar with the matter." There is very little information in that statement!

gilgoomesh 13y ago
Deals like this are usually confidential so the sources can't reveal themselves for fear of breaching contract. Yeah, it leaves you in a situation where the information is just a rumor. All you can do is trust (or not) the original publisher of the rumour. The Wall Street Journal is usually pretty good with this type of Apple tidbit.

brandnewlow 13y ago

The Topsy API is the best way to surface "trend" type data from Twitter. I'm a little confused as to why Apple would make this acquisition, but of the companies doing things in the "make the Twitter firehose accessible" space, Topsy has had the best product for some time.

andrewhillman 13y ago
I think they will use this to tweak AppStore app ranking algorithm. User app reviews only go so far.
- codyb 13y ago
  I was also thinking possibly using this data and other streams to possibly give Siri the ability to answer more accurately questions like "Siri, what is going on in the United States today?" (Or where I live, work, etc). Just in case Siri was already really good I gave it a check but it was mostly lame USA facts on twitter, and a news reel of links to a somewhat better representation of an answer to the question but mostly foreign relations and bigger picture stories where the USA is mentioned explicitly. I have a feeling things like "A catastrophic tornado in Tennessee…" which only mentions that state probably wouldn't come up as readily yet. And that is definitely an incredibly hard question to tackle too.
hkmurakami 13y ago
Their expertise could be used in any number of ways in Apple's various server side services imo.
gsharma 13y ago
I was confused too. However, I think they are going to bring in-app search (like Android) to iOS. They can always auto index the apps on the device and then send the data to their servers. Alternatively they may also relase APIs for developers to push user specific content to their servers to index items (more like ElasticSearch or AWS CloudSearch.) $200M is a lot of money to just improve the app store search. They might end up using it for that too.

mbesto 13y ago

An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the deal but wouldn't comment further. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," she said without elaborating further. Question for those more experienced here, but doesn't "purpose or plans" of acquisitions generally fall under things that you have a duty to share with your shareholders?

aaronblohowiak 13y ago
Depending on the acquisition cost as a percentage of market cap, not really.
bobbles 13y ago
AFAIK they are able to stay fairly quiet unless the purchase reaches a certain threshold amount.
brown9-2 13y ago
"Duty" is somewhat subjective. They also have a "duty" to those shareholders to keep those plans secret if they deem that secrecy is beneficial for the business plans.
pbreit 13y ago
Not on a spend as small as that (0.04% of market cap).

Tycho 13y ago

For Siri perhaps?

michaeldorian 13y ago
IMHO, bingo.
threeseed 13y ago
Or possibly even just for iTunes Store / App Store. Knowing trends that are currently popular would help provide better results.

Gaurav322 13y ago

Now, apple understands the power of tweet. But, I feel sorry for them. "Twitter is not for sale" Haha. Try with other products now, Apple.

MrJagil 13y ago

As i see it, this is another move to strengthen Siri... edit: As Tycho said before me...

panacea 13y ago

Will Topsy still get access to the Twitter firehose?