Twitter revealed yesterday that it officially filed paperwork to go public. According to the most recent estimates, the company is valued at around $11 billion, and is able to file the IPO confidentially thanks to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups act, which allows companies to do precisely what Twitter is doing at the moment. The documents filed at the moment, though, mean that the company isn’t going public immediately, only that it has signaled its intent to do so in the next few weeks. It seems like a shrewd move by the company to get ahead of any potential rumors of the offering happening in the first place, and it’ll be important to keep a close eye on this story as it develops.
Tag: twitter
Twitter Acquires MoPub
Twitter has been building clout as an advertising platform for all of 2013, and their acquisition of startup MoPub is another piece of the puzzle. MoPub helps mobile publishers manage their ad inventory, and by owning them, Twitter has shown an increased focus on revenue generation. This acquisition will serve to maximize Twitter’s own ad space, increasing the effectiveness of ads running across the entire platform, but will also add revenue from other companies using MoPub’s service to develop native advertising strategies, like WordPress, Flixter, Ngmoco, and OpenTable.
Twitter & NYT Experiment With Anchor Links
The New York Times is experimenting with a new form of Twitter integration which lets users share selected text from within an article on Twitter opposed to simply tweeting the article’s titles. Users who click through the tweet are directed to the selected text within the page. The new functionality will enable readers to share the material which resonates most with them. NYT has been aggressive on Twitter, even selling ad packages based on the most shared stories on the social network (called Spark) so it only makes sense to encourage more flexible integrations.
Twitter Tests Trending TV
A few Twitter users awoke this morning to find their activity streams filled with a new ‘Trending’ TV box. The social network is testing out new ways of monetizing its service, and to drive higher usage. The trending box displays current popular TV shows as cards in a user’s Twitter timeline, and links to more information about the show, people in it, as well as promotions and other offers. So far, the elusive feature seems to only appear through the iOS app, rather than through the desktop, implying that Twitter is testing it as an augmented second screen activity. Expect to see more on this soon as it’s a developing story.
nEmesis Engine Tells You Which Resturants To Avoid
A new system developed at the University of Rochester aims to give users genuine opinions about a restaurant before you commit your money. Called “nEmesis,” their software uses machine learning to listen to geotagged tweets that match a restaurant location. It follows that user’s tweets for 72 hours, and captures any information about them feeling ill. Though it’s not good at accounting for random bouts of the flu amidst genuine food poisonings, over a four month period it correctly identified 480 reports of food poisoning. So maybe before you risk that C-rated lunch spot in NYC, check out nEmesis to see what’s really going on.
BMW Mini Turns Car Into Digital Billboard
As part of its ‘Mini’s Not Normal’ campaign, the automotive company put 48,000 LED lights onto one of its signature cars to broadcast your Tweets and Vines. It’s driving around London until August 19th, and customers can use the hashtag #MINIartbeat – or the Mini’s Facebook app – to get posts to appear on the car. What’s more, Mini will send a clip of the user’s post on the car as a souvenir. Though it’s reminiscent of Mercedes’ ‘invisible car’ promotion from last year, it adds the important element of conversation and social engagement to the bright mobile experience.
Higher Tweet Volume Drives TV Tune-In 29% of the Time
According to a new Nielsen study, an increase in tweets directly causes more tune-ins for TV shows. Relying in live TV ratings and tweets for 221 primetime broadcast episodes, the study found a correlation between tweet and tune-in surges. At the same time, a ratings boost also means more tweets almost half the time, while an increase in tweets boosts ratings 29% of the time. Nielsen saw a statistically significant casual influence, which means that TV ratings can increase the volume of tweets, and an increase in tweets can cause a spike in tune-ins. It remains unclear whether this is a universal standard, or just across programs with already elevated social engagement, but proof of two-way causation between tweeting and tuning in could be extremely helpful for pitching Twitter’s new TV ad targeting product, among other campaigns.
Twitter and TV: An Advertiser’s Targeting Paradise
Numerous studies have shown that people tend to multitask with their technology. Twitter’s jump into the advertising pool has certainly been informed by this behavior, and their seeming omnipresence gives them a unique perspective on how brands can effectively target their audiences. Twitter is now rolling out TV Ad Targeting to all US advertisers following a beta launch in May. The service is based on technology acquired with BlueFin Labs, a TV analytics service Twitter bought in February, that uses video fingerprinting technology to determine which ads played in which markets during which shows. By feeding Twitter users ads related to the TV they are watching, Neilsen studies state, message association rises by 95% and purchase intent jumps up almost 60%. This capability, combined with improved analytics for advertisers could make Twitter an even more valuable and easy to use second screen tool for marketers looking to push their campaigns to the next level.
Honda Responds To Tweets With Vines
In perhaps one of the most innovative uses of Vine to date, Honda is responding – with Vine videos – to users who tweet with #wantnewcar, in real time. The videos are filmed on premises, at the same time the tweet comes in, customized to the twitter handle of the user that sent the tweet out. Though other companies like Urban Outfitters have turned to Vine for campaigns, this is a new step forward in real-time, creative advertising with the medium.
Twitter Launches Retargeting
Twitter has entered the digital ad sphere full-force in 2013, launching its Amplify TV platform, and now they’ve launched cookies-based retargeting for brands, allowing them to use their e-mail lists and cookie IDs to serve users applicable ads. This is standard practice for other online services, but has come with some concerns over privacy. Twitter’s senior director of product, Kevin Weil, assures the public that all information is non-identifiable and there will be the option to opt-out of the promotions within Twitter’s interface, or via Do Not Track.
