Twitter and Revenues — With Search?
May 3rd, 2009 | By Gene A. Wright | Category: Breakout Topics, Feature, General, Information Technology, Innovation, Knowledge Management, Leadership, Marketing, New Product Management, Strategy, Technology, Technology StrategyAn article in BusinessWeek called “Twitter Makes a Racket. But Revenues?” The article suggets that perhaps something more than advertising is in play and partnerships may be the future “To date, Twitter’s plans remain obscured behind a sort of Silicon Valley Mona Lisa smile. The company is playing well with others while divulging next to nothing about its intentions. It’s allowing outside parties to create Web sites that manipulate and repackage its streams of tweets. One is CoTweet, a company whose platform organizes multiple Twitter exchanges with customers so they may be more easily tracked”.
The article suggests that search may in its future “The more ambitious play has to do with Twitter’s search engine, which it acquired last summer and which does an admirable job of capturing what is happening on the site on a moment-to-moment basis. Google can’t do this. Twitter’s recent talks with Google—and other big online players—centered around potential search partnerships, says someone familiar with the discussions. Combining Twitter’s search engine with one of users’ most common activities—sharing favored links—makes for something that has long been fantasized about: a real-time, human-powered search-cum-recommendation engine for content.”
What do you think? How will Twitter monetize its success?
[...] Twitter and Revenues — With Search? – Gene A Wright [...]
Twitter would be smart to take advantage of any relationship/partnership that could be formed with Google. Not only is Google the most powerful force on the Internet, but when combining the power of both companies, they would be even more unstoppable than right now. The database of intentions could grow exponentially. The only thing that would create a profitable business plan is if Twitter & Google create a program that allows businesses to track customers.
I am very unsure how it will really make money at this point. I haven’t signed up for it yet, so I haven’t had a good look at it. I imagine that it’s possible it might sell products at some point??
In my own person opinion i think twitter sux. It doesn’t seem to take it to the whole social online world. I think it lacks the personal approach that other social websites have. The “feeds” and “follows” of the tweets seem stupid. Its almost as if it is a long bulletin board for cyberspace. I could see Google use for it but not as a social site. I think it will die out of the social world and become more commercial.
I think I am still unaware of how Twitter actually intends on making money and how other companies that are pursing them to purchase them would make money. I think that Twitter is a fad and could possibly disappear soon due to their being no actuall purpose of it. I think it is a second rate face book status. Then again I could be wrong, because i think its popularity will be enforced by celebrities and sports stars, then to bloggers, and then to the common public who merely want to follow someones actions. Honestly though, the internet is taking a very creeppy persona. A random person can read what your thinking, where your going, and whos going to be there. Twitter is a real-time stalking device that needs to be goverened. A business such as google needs to build a legit business model before going forward in its pursuit to purchase.
I also have not signed up for Twitter yet. I do not really understand the point of it. Isn’t similar to people’s status on Facebook? I sure I will sign up for it some day. Twitter will find a way to make money. Google and Yahoo and similar companies all found a way to make money so I am sure Twitter will find a way here shortly.
A partnership with Google is certainly an option for Twitter and would provide a great deal of credibility for potential advertisers. Twitter could also consider partnering with Amazon as well (since Bezos Expeditions is a partial owner). Perhaps the first step in creating a strategy to make money is for Twitter to be a little more forthcoming with information about the company. For businesses to embrace Twitter and potentially invest capital, they will want to know figures such as the number of active accounts, etc. Businesses that invest capital in Twitter will also want user/tracking data from the company (which I believe it currently collects and sells to third parties anyway). Developing a strategy will be tricky since altering the current user experience could result in adverse reactions from tweets. Whatever the strategy Twitter develops, turning a profit in the enar future will likely prove challenging.
Twitter is gaining so much publicity that I trhink they will become very profitable in the near future. There are porbably a number of ways they will be able to make money. I think that since people are talking about what they are doing…. Twitter can collect so much information to market and push sales. Honestly I am not on Twitter and I don’t really understand how they would make it so big. All you bascally get to do it post a short message. It is a social networking site though and people are interested in other’s lives….or just plain and simple being nosey. It also it a way for people to advertise…… But what is in it for Twitter? Since it is growing many businesses are going to want to get in the mix and Twitter could possibly offer some type of subscription service……
Teaming with Google could be very smart!
It will be a matter of time until Google will purchase Twitter and eventually it will not only know what people intend to search or do but what they actually are searching.
As the world becomes more and more focused on instant gratification, web sites that can stay in front of things as they happen will gain popularity. Tweeters offer instant, if sometimes inane, information.
While the money-making prospects are unknown at present time, I just wait for the day I post a tweet and see an ad for an item related to my last tweet. Or to my following/followers’ tweets.
I never really understood while people use twitter, i read something that 50% of twitter users don’t return the next month. I know why people use it but why though, I know you can get instant updates and follow your favorite celebrity or sports team but thats what websites are for. I know there are a lot of opportunities for twitter out there to advertise, for example Google is a big one and yes, it really is only a matter of time before twitter takes off just like myspace did in the past, and now facebook is taking over the world and who knows, maybe soon to be twitter.
very quickly Twitter has become extremely successful.I feel it would be a great idea for twitter to partner up Google. As we have learned in class Google is an extremely successful company, and Google has the capabilities and following to take twitter to that next level. The growth would exponentially. If they were to join i would find it very hard to see a company anytime in the near future be able to compete with them.
I also have not signed up for Twitter & don’t have time to tweet. Twitter seems to just be another site to add endless blogs. So in order to make money, they would have to partner w/ someone like Google that would be able to run some behind the scenes analysis that they could possible sell to companies that people are tweeting about. .Twitter could get some kick back on advertising or have product reviews that they could sell to companies R&D department to make or improve current products that people are tweeting about-nothing sells product more than hype!!! Isn’t this how Twitter got started???
I already don’t “get” Twitter. It’s user friendly and some people may like the idea of cyber-stalking their “leaders” about their moment-by-moment details, but I don’t see a major point in “tweeting.” The only practical function that I can imagine is when you’ve forgotten your cell phone and don’t have any of the 25 instant messaging services available, happen to be in a WiFi location and can “tweet” that you are wherever you are so that the other person can find you (that is if they even think of checking Twitter). Sorry, that’s just my view.
As far as the company is concerned, sure, they’re riding high and if they have any experience in these “site prodigies,” they will team up and use their image wisely. Money will be pouring in from advertisements but I think even more so from word-of-mouth, if you can call Oprah that. I am not sure that their search engine will be of much practical use and won’t stand anywhere near what Google offers.
Anything twitter can do yo make it considered more “useful” is good news in my opinion. The uses for it now seem pointless to more people than just me, and im sure combining it with a powerful search engine can have results that may win some more customers over. If they were to try and do this, it should be soon, while they are riding the popularity they are currently having as being the “newest coolest thing” before they are considered a fad and dropped as quickly.
I think the combining of two powerful forces – Twitter and Google would be one of the best mergers to exist. They are both a force to be reckoned with. I do not see any downside to Google going after a real time search engine. Absolutely brilliant.
I think twitter’s success is tied to it’s mobility, so possibly a business model that charges micropayments for twitter service would be feasible. Twitter could tie in to GPS tracking, allowing geotagged tweets.
Local businesses could be charged to use the geotagged tweets – customers could subscribe to a businesses’ twitter feed, and receive coupons and personalized offers. Firms could look at it like an advertising expense, and it would provide value to the consumer as well as the business. Twitter followers could leave an ID# every time they were at the business in exchange for a slight discount, so the business could track consumer behavior, and further personalize their communications.
The possibilities are quite endless, as technologies such as GPS and high-speed wireless internet are increasing in mobility and usage.
I’m not sure how I feel about Twitter. There are so many social networks available and I think Twitter lacks what a lot of the others have. But, I do think that Twitter will come out with added features to keep users and gain more. Or even partnering with Google, they would most likely continue to grow.
I also am a little skeptical about Twitter. I have no experience with it or don’t really even know what it does. I know its popularity is increasing on a daily basis, but can it become as big as Facebook or Myspace? Being a huge sports fan, I can’t help but notice all of the references by Stu Scott to the Twittering and status updating that he (or the network) does. Maybe this will cause me to check Twitter out in the near future.
As far as the possibilities for partnering with Google, I think Twitter would be dumb to pass it up. Google has shown that it can make money and that it has the ability to provide the latest and greatest technology in all of its endeavors.
All the attention Twitter receives definitely gives it potential to make some money. The only ways I can think of are to team up with Google, or provide a service to marketers that lets them understand and target consumers better. This could be done by allowing marketers to search for words in a user’s status update and then market to that person. Other than that I’m at a loss. It leaves me wondering if Twitter’s owners really cannot figure out what to do with it, or are they secretly developing a brilliant plan to make billions?
Aside from that, I understand the appeal of Twitter but I can’t see myself using it. The only reason I’d want to use Twitter is if I thought everyone wanted to know what I was doing all the time, which sounds just a bit conceited to me. It seems like a tool for the same people who update their Facebook status every 5 hours thinking everyone cares what they’re up to. Or for people too lazy to actually pick up the phone and call someone if they’re running late or let their mom know how they’re doing. Where has all the personal communication gone?
Twitter is the next facebook or myspace maybe even bigger. Everywhere I go there is mention of twitter whether it be professional baseball players, or professional basketball players, or in the papers. There is a huge potential to make millions of dollars for the application. Google or Microsoft or Yahoo could purchase the application and make millions for the creators of twitter. Twitter seems to only grow in popularity and as of now there is no stopping it.
There’s always a way to make money, especially if you are running an e-service/business. If Twitter holds true to its values and can incorporate a revenue model, Twitter stock holders and users will have nothing to worry about.
The fact that people are making money off of what people are writing about themselves is nuts….
But anyways, if Google and Twitter were to combine forces, that’ll just be one step closer for Google ruling the world. It is a great concept though; even though I’m not a “tweeter,” and probably never will be, I like the idea of being able to get recommendations for sites, links, etc live from other people on Twitter.
I still am kind of unsure as to how Twitter plans on making money, besides advertising, but I’m sure the master minds in Silicon Valley have something up their sleeves; and I’m sure with all of the talk between the big search engine power players, they’ll be successful.
Twitter has definitely gotten a lot of buzz lately. But just like Facebook their profit success is still unknown. They definitely have a huge amount of users, but how to make money from the users is still in the making. I’m not sure if using search will be good enough for Twitter. I think they should go more towards a Youtube approach instead of a Google approach. If Twitter used tabs like “most viewed”, “top favorited”, and “top rated” types of tabs for users to easily find the most popular “tweets.” I think some sort of features like this could definitely have success in the Twitter environment. As for making money obviously some sort of advertising on Twitter would be the easiest.
Sarah H hit the nail on the head. Twitter will/should send ads to the tweeter/tweeties (sp?) for products/seervices relating to the post. I am sure that many folks have looked foolish have predicted an early death for such things as TVs, the WWW and sliced bread, but I think Twitter will be a flash in the pan.
I really don’t really understand why people like Twitter, but I guess maybe sometime some innovative ideas take time to grow on people. I think Twitter’s strategy to allow outside parties to use their technology is really smart, because they don’t know how they are going to make money out of Twitter, so why not let other people discover ways to make twittering essential to internet users therefore making money of it. Also I believe the more people get used to twitting the more dependent and addicted people become to using that technology. Though I believe that twitter’s search engine is interesting, I don’t believe that the feature of capturing what is happening on the website on a moment-to-moment basis make them worthy a partnership with Google or other major online search engine providers. It will be interesting to see if they will find a partner or just end up selling the search engine to one of the top search engine providers on the internet.
I do not wish to restate what a bunch of others have already posted but I feel the same way. Facebook has essentially assimilated any sort of unique feature that Twitter has, or at least that I am aware of. The dilemma is Twitter must do something else that other sites don’t have because Facebook is already established and took Twitter’s concept before it was really launched. I do not see myself signing up and using Twitter until it has more appealing aspects. Sadly, I think it has gotten a lot of hype already and will not get another chance if it does not make its next move quickly. Now is when they have the ability to capture a large audience and create a good buzz.
That said, I feel Twitter has potential and could make money if it becomes more appealing. Without the mainstream population usage, it could, as the article said, sell its services to companies or Google, etc.
I am not completely sure how Twitter will make money, I think right now it is in a very powerful place, because of the large amount of individuals who use it, although the concept seems rather simplistic to the point where if they don’t hurry and figure out a successful business model, make some partnerships or work with other websites in some way it will become like a fad, and another site offering more options will end up taking over. Twitter has a good idea going for it, the ability to track what people are doing at the very certain time, as long as people continue to want to share that information through Twitter.
I think that twitter is going to be the beginning of some other type of personal streaming service, but also will be bought. The stat out there that says Twitter has 40% churn rate indicates a lot of people are trying it out because it’s the hot new thing, but I don’t think people know what exactly they want to do with it. I also feel that due to the gross overpayment by eBay for Skype, any takeover isn’t going to be in the mega billions.
I personally never have been to the Twitter site, so I am not really familiar with the website. However, I feel that Twitter or any smaller but growing site can gain from joining or acquiring a relationship or partnership with like Google or even Yahoo. As with Google, which is pretty much the powerhouse of the Internet, Twitter would only see positive gains from the relationship. As for making money, Twitter pretty much needs to use the idea of allowing outside parties use their technology.
I have never been to the Twitter site, but after all the hype over it I am lookign into getting an account. I work at an advertising agency and the entire building is on Twitter. I feel that this is something that people are going to have to get into to stay linked in to the new web 2.0. I think this is just the beginning for Twitter, and like Facebook there is much room for them to grow.
I consider myself a twit when it comes to Twitter. (Facebook too for that matter.) I really don’t know much about Twitter other than what little I have heard in the media and have never looked into the site. I’m sure some people find it useful but to me it appears to be a fad unless someone can better utilize if’s capabilities for the masses. At this point I would have to agree with the investment banker’s comment, “Yet another example of a clever widget which has sort of a trendy element to it but has no economic significance, and no lasting significance.”
Anything which causes potential customers to engage has economic significance to markets and businesses. Twitter, Loopt, and social networking sites are growing exponentially and have a huge opportunity to become extremely profitable with advertising. Companies are now researching media tools in which they will know when you enter or are near a store and will send email alerts about sales and specials. This form of targeted media using specific messaging will continue to grow in use as businesses test new ways to reach customers.
Since everyone is on the Twitter bandwagon, there has to be a way to make money. I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before google or a google like company buys twitter. The founder of twitter was on Oprah a few weeks ago and congratulated her on her first tweet. It was absolutely ridiculous. I’m still trying to figure out how people have the time to tweet during the day. I guess I prefer the old fashioned way of email or IM. It is obvious Twitter is becoming mainstream and it will only be a matter of time before twitter becomes a part of a bigger communications company.
I must preface this post by saying that I am an old fool from the old school… yes I do not socially network on the web… at least NOT YET. I am not on Myspace, Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter. Sometimes I feel like the last hold out. I am beginning to waver since my teenage daughter wants to join. I will need to scope it out first.
In reading this article it sounds like Twitter is at a crossroads. They are hot. They have google’s ear, and they can likely make a very lucrative partnership deal. But that position is fleeting… I remember when Myspace was all the buzz, and now it is dead… in favor of Facebook and Twitter. My prediction: Facebook declines next, and then Twitter fades away. Better cash in now! Quick… before I join.
My thought on twiter’s revenue generating options are selling advertising, charging users a fee, selling companies twiter space, or selling the company to a deep pocket.
I think there are oportunites to extract user fess indirectly from the product getting kickbacks from phone companies or selling twiter apps to users to let them tweet with premium features.
The ultimate money generating move is to sell the company to a deep pocket but money might not be so free flowing this year.
Sara H and jboo say it best. One way for Twitter to monetize success is to sell the tweets to the company whose product/service is being referenced. Of course this sounds like good old-fashioned telemarketing to me. Twitter is selling information about you, and now the company buying the information is going to bombard you with annoying ads instantaneously. How long before that gets old for the Tweeters?
Didn’t the large search engine companies (ie. Google) struggle to find revenue streams early on? While I don’t know much about Twitter or how it will make money, rest assured it will. This will likely be via partnerships with advertisers or by what else….let Google buy them.
I feel Twitter offers great technology that Google is still struggling to create. Twitter is the new up and coming thing. With celebrities endorsing Twitter anytime they can, Twitter should sell out to Google now while the price is high.
People love Twitter because it gets them closer to their ‘heroes’ like Shaq, Tiger Woods, rock stars, etc. Rather than having to wait for them to be interviewed, they get to know exactly what is on their mind the second it happens. That is actually pretty cool if you like living vicariously through others, which, unfortunately, many of us do. I am not on Twitter and update my Facebook page about once a month, I just don’t have that much interesting stuff to say and I really don’t need or want to know when my friends are taking a nap. I can see Twitter making money when they start reading what you post, then you magically have an ad either sent to you or show up somewhere on the page, like when you use Gmail and then you get an ad for stuff that you are talking about in the email you received or sent. Which REALLY creeps me out, by the way.
Bottom line, Twitter is hot and they’ll figure out a way to cash in quick, then it’ll die and we’ll move on to the next big thing. Hopefully they have smart people that know when to sell, not like the moron that wouldn’t sell Facebook for $6 billion or whatever it was.
I guess I still do not understand the point, purpose or revenue potential with regard to twitter. It’s not a subscription service and simply delivers a headline that users subscribe to? If the intent is to deliver advertising directly to a users mobile device there may be some potential. Otherwise, it’s without merit.
Generating revenue from advertisers seems to be a common approach of many internet-based services, but I am not fond of all the advertising that creeps into so many of these “tools”. I find it a distraction, really. Makes it hard to be master of one’s technology domain. As for Twitter….so far it seems they have succeeded in monotonizing their success rather than monetizing it.
I suspect that the underlying goal of twitter is to gather information about peoples likes and dislike. I believe that they intend to build a repository of information that can be sold to marketing companies for use in target advertising.
Twitter can almost not go unheard on TV or radio anymore … who said this and who said that. I think it has potential to be mroe than just a text message repository, but then again isn’t that what it was supposed to do. Allow people to send text messages that are visible to larger groups of people?
They could try to use it for something else, but cannot see it catching on too much. I will never Tweet … who wants to hear what I have to say anyways.
Could it quite possibly be that the developers of Twitter can only function and work on one thing at a time, do it well and move on? Or did they learn from the dot bomb fall-out that controlled growth is the best foundation for a sustained business model? Or is the revenue for Twitter in the value of the next owner and the current developers are seeking a golden parachute and an opportunity to fund their next venture.
Who would still use twitter if they had to pay for it? Currently free to subscribe, Twitter could easily make some money if they charged a membership fee, however who would actually pay for this service? And it probably wouldn’t bring in that much revenue anyway. I think Twitter would lose a lot of followers if they charged people for the current offerings. Maybe, if there is a partnership with Google in the works, and there is some more “cool” stuff they plan to offer, a membership fee arrangement would work better. Or maybe, since there have been developments in cloud monitoring, Twitter could sell lists to companies based on what users “Tweet” about. Unfortunately, selling customer information isn’t the best way to keep or acquire customers though.
Ok, so I guess my examples of how Twitter could make money aren’t the best, but after a little researching, I found that Twitter could be making some money off of the sending and receiving of Twitter messages via SMS (http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=309). If they can partner with the mobile carriers I think there is greater revenue potential—now that’s a better idea.
What forms of revenue streams are there? Subscriptions; selling a product; advertising. Ads are an obvious possibility. Subscriptions? I agree with others’ comments: who would pay for it? Selling a product? Maybe. If the product were information that no other service provided, then it would probably be of value to someone.
If the latter, I think it would be really tough to maintain the dominance. There are so many technologies looking at ways of relating information. Invention Machine’s Goldfire, Wolfram-Alpha, I’m sure Google and Microsoft have something up their sleeves… and IBM is no slouch.
http://blog.compete.com/2009/02/09/facebook-myspace-twitter-social-network/
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=how+many+twitter+users+are+there+in+the+US%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.nielsen.com%2Fnielsenwire%2Fonline_mobile%2Ftwitter-quitters-post-roadblock-to-long-term-growth%2F
I am interested in one of the comments posted to the article where it is indicated that approximately 7% if the the US population is even on twitter. I can’t seem to find any data that backs that up. Instead I found the 2 articles linked here that compare twitter to facebook to myspace. These articles point to twitter as not being as important as the hype would have us believe.
Unlike many other posters, I do use Twitter. I think people completely underestimate the power in the simplicity of the site and the fact that people (especially younger generations & celebs) are just dying to let everyone know their every move. Twitter already has the possibility to show what the top talked about topics are at any given moment and your Twitter updates can be posted on virtually any web page including on Facebook in place of your status message. All of the knowledge that Twitter could potentially extract is mind boggling (where people eat, what events are taking place, what they buy, where they shop, what celebs do they talk about, what websites are hot). I believe that one of these days Twitter will unveil the next step in their corporate strategy and something tells me it won’t be a partnership or buyout by Google.
I think if Twitter partners with Google it can become a revenue generating stream. I think the whole real time application is very cool. I am not on Twitter so Im not sure about it;s all the features but I think Twitter will definitely be able to make revenue through ads and maybe charging businesses some monetary sum for people to find them on Twitter and Tweet about their products.