Apple has acquired social analytics firm Topsy in a deal worth over $200 million. Topsy is a social search and analytics firm partnered with Twitter in order to maintain an index of Tweets as far back as 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.
Using what is Apple’s standard confirmation line, A company spokesperson, when contacted for comment, said: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
The Wall Street Journal, posits that Apple could use Topsy’s technology within iTunes Radio, and in the App Store, delivering content recommendations based on Twitter trends. It could also be useful when used with iAd, providing data to serve targeted ads in iRadio.
AppleInsider notes that the purchase of Topsy give Apple entry into a small group of companies that have access to highly detailed data from Twitter.
Along with Gnip, Data Sift and NTT Data, Topsy is one of four “certified data resellers” with exclusive rights to collect and resell Twitter data…
While the purchased price has not been confirmed, 9to5Mac reports that the price tag on the deal might have been a good deal more than $200 million, possibly over $250 million. citing a tweet by Fortune’s Dan Primack: “Hearing $AAPL deal for Topsy was not only north of $200 million, but also north of $225 million.”
