Topsy analyzes social data across the Web, including all of Twitter's stream
Apple has acquired Topsy, a social media analytics company that analyzes a range of data from Twitter, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
Apple paid more than US$200 million for Topsy, the Journal said. The company provides a range of tools to make sense of data across the social Web and use it to divine consumer sentiment. For example, marketers can use Topsy's tools to measure the success of ad campaigns, identify thoughts and opinions over time, and search and analyze hashtags across years of online chatter.
Topsy is one of only several companies with access to Twitter's so-called "firehose" -- the full stream of tweets posted to the service. Other competing companies with access include DataSift and Gnip, which analyze and resell the data to customers, the Journal noted.
Topsy has a huge amount of Twitter data at its fingertips. Earlier this year the company announced that it had indexed Twitter's complete archive of public tweets dating back to 2006. That data could let Apple make better use of online social activity in its product development, as companies such as Facebook do now.
Neither Apple nor Topsy could be immediately reached for comment.
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com
'Intent' is the single largest performance marketing variable. It shapes our search queries, dictates our purchase paths and mediates meaningful interactions with brands regardless of channel, media or content type.
Data has been an increasingly critical factor in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing and business operations.
Discussing the future in a realistic fashion is often a disappointing prospect. For all the talk of hoverboards, jetpacks and lightsabers changing the way we do things, the reality tends to end up being something as mundane as a slightly cheaper way to get around the city.
Episode 2 of the latest BrandHook podcast series on Getting Intimate with Customer Experience is now live!
Hi, i am an Aistralian ALK patient, been on xalkori dec 13 to oct 15 and achieved remission of disease, since been on Ceritinib until no...
gary packer
Pfizer Australia adopts AI-powered digital analyst tool for sales and marketing decision making
Hi James, shouldn't marketers also be focusing on collecting and utilizing up to date first-party profiling data on customers so that mes...
Tom
3 ways customer data can increase online sales conversion
Wouldn't reconnecting with younger consumers be in direct contravention of the code on alcohol advertising?
Tim Palmer
Vodka Cruiser reconnects with younger consumers via category-first Facebook Live campaign
Thanks for the article Jennifer, you raise some interesting points. The supermarket and shopping centre examples particularly struck a c...
Jill Brennan
Why marketers should take note of social robots
Winning the retail game is really tricky at this point in time. Many retailers have declared themselves as bankrupt. But yes harnessing t...
Vanessa.M.Magers
Bricks and clicks: Balancing digital and physical to win the retail game