Apple Acquires Social Analytics Firm Topsy for $200 Million
Apple has purchased social analytics firm Topsy for more than $200 million, reports The Wall Street Journal. According to its website, Topsy is a social search and analytics company that partners with Twitter to maintain an index of Tweets going back to 2006.
Topsy also makes products to search and analyze trends on social websites like Twitter and Google+. With its analytics tools, companies can analyze keywords by several different metrics such as activity, exposure, geography, or general sentiment. The Topsy website also serves as a search engine that looks through shared content on social networks and ranks results based on a social influence algorithm.
Topsy specializes in data from Twitter, offering tools to analyze tweets and other information to help track consumer sentiment. Its tools can decipher how often a specific term is tweeted, find an influential person on a specific subject, or measure the exposure of an event or campaign.
The company is one of a handful of Twitter’s partners who have access to the so-called "firehose"—the full stream of all tweets posted to the service. Topsy competes with DataSift Inc. and Gnip Inc. to analyze and resell this data to customers.
An Apple spokesperson confirmed the acquisition with the company’s standard line: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple could possibly use Topsy's technology within iTunes Radio, and it could also be useful in the App Store, delivering content recommendations based on Twitter trends. It could also be used as a way to bolster iAd, providing data to marketers to serve targeted ads in iRadio.
Apple's purchase of Topsy comes after several other acquisitions earlier this year focused on mapping. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple made a total of 15 acquisitions during fiscal 2013.
Popular Stories
Apple today announced that its 34th annual Worldwide Developers Conference will take place from Monday, June 5 to Friday, June 9. Like WWDC 2020, 2021, and 2022, WWDC 2023 will be an online event for the most part, and it will be open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will provide online sessions and labs, which will allow...
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will use a new ultra-low energy microprocessor allowing certain features like the new capacitive solid-state buttons to remain functional even when the handset is powered off or the battery has run out, according to a source that shared details on the MacRumors forums.
CAD-based render of new solid-state buttons on iPhone 15 Pro models The source of this rumor is ...
General Motors (GM) will phase out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its vehicles starting this year, shifting to a built-in infotainment system co-developed with Google (via Reuters).
GM owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC in the United States. It will stop offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, which goes on sale this summer. The company plans ...
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are rumored to feature a customizable Action button like the Apple Watch Ultra, according to a MacRumors forum member who leaked accurate details about the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models last year.
The source claimed the Action button will replace the Ring/Silent switch that has been included on every iPhone model since 2007. They did not...
Following six weeks of beta testing, iOS 16.4 was released to the public this week. The software update includes a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone 8 and newer. To install an iOS update, open the Settings app on the iPhone, tap General → Software Update, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Below, we have recapped eight new features and changes added with iOS 16.4,...
With the Apple Music Classical app and an Apple Pay Later early access program now available, the list of previously-announced iOS features that have yet to launch is beginning to shrink. However, there are still a few features we are waiting for. Below, we have recapped three more iOS features that are expected to launch in 2023, including an Apple Card savings account for Daily Cash,...
Apple has again pushed back mass production of its mixed-reality headset and the device may not appear at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said.
Apple headset concept by David Lewis and Marcus Kane In a tweet, Kuo explained that Apple "isn't very optimistic" about whether the headset will be able to create an "iPhone moment." As a result,...
Top Rated Comments
KILL ME
"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
Apple acquires a company for $1b:
"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
Apple acquires Google:
"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
:confused:
You drunk?
1996 called. It wants this message back.