Why Twitter Wants to Acquire TweetDeck - Why is Twitter so interested in acquiring TweetDeck? To answer that question, one has to dig deeper into Twitter’s complicated relationship with “frenemy” UberMedia.
The Wall Street Journal published a story Monday claiming that Twitter is in talks to acquire TweetDeck, the most popular third-party client on Twitter’s platform, for around $50 million. This wouldn’t normally surprise us; however, TweetDeck was reportedly acquired for $30 million by Bill Gross’s UberMedia in February.
There’s a lot of backstory between Twitter and UberMedia. UberMedia, founded just a few months ago as an Idealab company, is the owner of UberSocial, Twidroyd, Echofon and UberCurrent, a combination that accounts for more than 11% of all tweets sent. It was founded by serial entrepreneur and Idealab creator Bill Gross. Idealab is the Pasedena-based incubator behind a wide range of companies including Picasa, Compete, Citysearch, eToys.com, Answers.com and Netzero.
There has been recent friction between Twitter and UberMedia. In February, Twitter banned UberSocial and Twidroyd for API violations. This was just weeks after the rumors about the TweetDeck acquisition first hit the wires.
According to two sources close to the situation, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, UberMedia and TweetDeck were indeed talking about an acquisition. But either the deal never closed or it closed and then fell apart shortly afterward.
Then, last week, CNN first reported that UberMedia was building a Twitter competitor, one that could possibly remove the 140-character limit restriction on messages. From what our sources tell us, CNN’s report is accurate: UberMedia has been working on a direct competitor to Twitter. (As expected, Bill Gross wouldn’t say anything about the rumors surrounding UberMedia when I visited Idealab last week).
We don’t know very much about the UberMedia competitor, but we don’t believe Bill Gross’s goal is to destroy Twitter. Instead, it’s more likely UberMedia’s Twitter competitor is a backup plan in case its apps get banned from Twitter’s platform for some reason. Our belief is that Bill Gross would much rather work with Twitter than compete with it.
That brings us to today’s rumors about Twitter’s interest in TweetDeck. Recently, Twitter’s Ryan Sarver advised developers not to create Twitter clients that reproduce “the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience,” so it’s natural to think that Twitter is simply trying to consolidate its fragmented ecosystem by acquiring TweetDeck.
However, this acquisition is more likely a defensive move by the microblogging platform to keep TweetDeck out of UberMedia’s hands. Twitter simply doesn’t want one company controlling more than 20% of the ecosystem; that acquisition would give UberMedia way too much leverage and influence over Twitter’s platform. That’s why Twitter is willing to dish out $20 million more than UberMedia’s initial offer to TweetDeck.
Now for the big question: How will this piece of Twitter theater end?
The answer to that question lies with TweetDeck founder Iain Dodsworth, who will ultimately decide whether he wants to sell. He hasn’t confirmed or denied any rumors yet, but we’ve reached out to him via email and will update you if and when he responds. ( mashable.com )
The Wall Street Journal published a story Monday claiming that Twitter is in talks to acquire TweetDeck, the most popular third-party client on Twitter’s platform, for around $50 million. This wouldn’t normally surprise us; however, TweetDeck was reportedly acquired for $30 million by Bill Gross’s UberMedia in February.
There’s a lot of backstory between Twitter and UberMedia. UberMedia, founded just a few months ago as an Idealab company, is the owner of UberSocial, Twidroyd, Echofon and UberCurrent, a combination that accounts for more than 11% of all tweets sent. It was founded by serial entrepreneur and Idealab creator Bill Gross. Idealab is the Pasedena-based incubator behind a wide range of companies including Picasa, Compete, Citysearch, eToys.com, Answers.com and Netzero.
There has been recent friction between Twitter and UberMedia. In February, Twitter banned UberSocial and Twidroyd for API violations. This was just weeks after the rumors about the TweetDeck acquisition first hit the wires.
According to two sources close to the situation, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, UberMedia and TweetDeck were indeed talking about an acquisition. But either the deal never closed or it closed and then fell apart shortly afterward.
Then, last week, CNN first reported that UberMedia was building a Twitter competitor, one that could possibly remove the 140-character limit restriction on messages. From what our sources tell us, CNN’s report is accurate: UberMedia has been working on a direct competitor to Twitter. (As expected, Bill Gross wouldn’t say anything about the rumors surrounding UberMedia when I visited Idealab last week).
We don’t know very much about the UberMedia competitor, but we don’t believe Bill Gross’s goal is to destroy Twitter. Instead, it’s more likely UberMedia’s Twitter competitor is a backup plan in case its apps get banned from Twitter’s platform for some reason. Our belief is that Bill Gross would much rather work with Twitter than compete with it.
That brings us to today’s rumors about Twitter’s interest in TweetDeck. Recently, Twitter’s Ryan Sarver advised developers not to create Twitter clients that reproduce “the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience,” so it’s natural to think that Twitter is simply trying to consolidate its fragmented ecosystem by acquiring TweetDeck.
However, this acquisition is more likely a defensive move by the microblogging platform to keep TweetDeck out of UberMedia’s hands. Twitter simply doesn’t want one company controlling more than 20% of the ecosystem; that acquisition would give UberMedia way too much leverage and influence over Twitter’s platform. That’s why Twitter is willing to dish out $20 million more than UberMedia’s initial offer to TweetDeck.
Now for the big question: How will this piece of Twitter theater end?
The answer to that question lies with TweetDeck founder Iain Dodsworth, who will ultimately decide whether he wants to sell. He hasn’t confirmed or denied any rumors yet, but we’ve reached out to him via email and will update you if and when he responds. ( mashable.com )
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