Rumors ran rampant
around the Twitterverse last week with the news that Twitter is in talks with TweetDeck to purchase the ridiculously popular third-party service for the low, low price of just $50 million.
(Note to self: invent something people love and then buy an island).
Considering UberMedia was rumored to be in the mix to buy TweetDeck for $30 million just a few weeks ago, that’s very interesting news.
My first reaction to this news was joy. Pure and overwhelming joy.
Why?
Well, I’m not really a fan of UberMedia. I like their apps, but I’m not a huge fan of the company in general.
That said, the opinion that this may not be the best of situations brewing for my all-time favorite Twitter app was quickly formed. Writing for PC Mag, Lance Ulanoff was less than happy about this:
“Twitter’s grown tired of all the third-party tools built on its API back; not because there’s anything inherently wrong with these tools, but because Twitter’s long-term strategy requires as many eyeballs as possible on its own home-grown Twitter services and tools.
“If the majority of Twitter users view their tweets through third-party tools that simply make calls to Twitter’s API’s, they’ll never see Twitter partner ads, promos, or Quickbars.
“Twitter loses control not only of the conversation, but the ability to monetize millions and millions of eyeballs and social activity.”
Obviously, that’s a HUGE reason that Twitter would want to kill TweetDeck, and other services like it.
I think there’s a better solution though, and I’m not nearly as pessimistic as Ulanoff is.
I can’t see Twitter killing off one of its most popular interaction tools, especially when a big percentage of those “power users” on Twitter prefer using TweetDeck to interact.
However, the assumption that people aren’t viewing Twitter through official Twitter apps (or the homepage) is a bit faulty, I think.
According to this article, 58% of tweets come from official Twitter apps; be that mobile or the homepage.
Many find that number stunningly low. I actually think it’s rather high.
Unofficial third-party apps are the most popular way to use Twitter for the majority of people in my network.
Rarely do I see the “from web” tag in many tweets in my feed.
So, if you’re Twitter, why on earth would you piss off a large, not to mention vocal, section of your users?
The answer? You wouldn’t.
Instead, why wouldn’t you just incorporate what you see working in revenue production methods in your apps with TweetDeck, and leave the service as is?
You bring another chunk of tweets under your umbrella, ensuring they stay out of UberMedia’s hands, and you are able to monetize those users.
Shutting TweetDeck down, after you’ve spent $50 million on it just doesn’t make any kind of good business sense. TweetDeck is just too popular among those who champion Twitter on a daily basis to shut it down.
The other thing to keep in mind is that it is in Twitter’s best interests to work with third-party developers as opposed to buy them out and then shut their services down.
It’s a bully tactic and it’s incredibly dumb.
Why release your API if you’re just going to buy out those services created using it and then shut them down?
What do you think? Will Twitter shut TweetDeck down if it buys it? What would you do if TweetDeck did get shut down?
[With minor differences, this post was originally published on KimberMedia.]
[…] wrote a post about the potential of Twitter to buy TweetDeck just two weeks ago. (To be fair, that first posted on my employer’s […]
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@MattLaCasse @ginidietrich @JGoldsborough I’m a poor, solo, struggling freelancer… and I would pay for something, just not sure of the ‘what’ yet. Part of the post I’ve been kicking around is the paywall issue.. does it cut some of the noise and chatter, or limit it to just those brands with money to pay? I like Gini’s idea of the backend stuff offering value, like analytics .. or unlimited queso. ;-)
@ginidietrich @JGoldsborough I would pay for access, but I don’t think Twitter would go that way at this point. Agreed with Gini, offer analytics I can’t get anywhere else and we’ll talk. Or free cheesy bread. That would definitely tip the scales.
@JGoldsborough @MattLaCasse Alright. You’re right. I would. But they’d better offer me something I don’t already get. Like superb analytics I can’t get anywhere else or no ads or cupcakes delivered every Friday.
@ginidietrich @MattLaCasse You wouldn’t pay $100 a year for Twitter? Really? I can’t imagine life without it. Hello, my name is Justin, and I’m a Twitterholic.
@MattLaCasse @JGoldsborough Two years ago I would have paid for it. I’m with Matt…not anymore.
@JGoldsborough ginidietrich Hell yes I’d pay $100 a year. Though I think that ship has probably sailed since the actual product (tweeting) has always been free. That expectation has been set. Perhaps they can introduce more ads and then charge for an ad-free experience?
Solid analysis here, mattlacasse . You raise a lot of great points. If I’m Twitter, I start asking why my own UI sucks so badly compared to Tweetdeck’s and I worry about fixing that. Then, if I do by Tweetdeck, I do exactly as you said — nothing, except reap the benefits and ad dollars.
Not a fan of Hootsuite at all. I’ve tried it numerous times and it’s not the user experience I’m looking for. But to your point, I would like the analytics. Cheers.
ginidietrich Twitter should charge for “premium” use of its tool. More than 25 tweets a week. In-depth analytics. Etc. But I think they are too comfortable with the fact that more venture cap will be there when they need it. I would absolutely pay $100 a year for unlimited twitter usage. Would you?
Good thoughts @MattLaCasse , don’t see them shutting it down. Per our friend @ginidietrich comments here and elsewhere, I have been thinking a lot about Twitter. To the point I have my own post kicking about but for now, I get the concept: OTHER folks are making hay off your invention, to the point that the #1 tip in using your product/service is to NOT use YOUR product, but OTHERS… then yes, you have a problem and have got to do something. Stopping the growth of these 3rd party coattail riders, moving towards some vertical integration may be a step in the right direction. FWIW.
The smartass in me says as soon as that $300 million runs out. But you raise a good point Gini. At some point you have to make money if you’re Twitter. To be honest, I think acquiring TweetDeck goes a long way towards doing that. TweetDeck users are some of the most valuable users in the Twitter world since these are generally considered to be the “influencers”.
I feel like Twitter is on the right path as far as monetizing its service. Promoted trends, tweets, and ads in the feeds of its own services show the company is serious. Still, as for WHEN it has to turn a profit, I suppose the real answer is when its shareholders get tired of footing the bill.
I’m really struggling with something here. I fully realize Twitter managed to raise something like $300MM because of their popularity and now they are going to spend 20% of that on buying a platform we all love (I know I do). But when do they have to start MAKING money?!
If TweetDeck would offer the analytic support of HootSuite, I really think it would be the perfect tool. The big problem I have with HootSuite is that it isn’t a standalone app I can work in. This is personal preference, but I don’t want to work with a monitoring system in a browser window. That’ll probably change in the future should I switch to Chrome OS, but for the time being…
The thing is that TweetDeck has set the bar so high for a 3rd party app, that all of its competitors have a ton of work to do. Twitter would be well served to buy these 3rd party apps and then just rebrand them as Twitter apps. You keep the userbase and the functionality and don’t upset anyone.
Where do I start Matt. Great analysis and I wanted to write a blog post about the 3 platforms I know: Hootsuite, Twitter, and Tweetdeck what I like and hate about each including the mobile apps.
I want a platform that allows reply, reply all, auto-account fill in, retweet with comments, retweet as is, analytics, scheduled tweets, automatic shortening of URLs, uploading photos that when you go to the photo host shows views (twitpic does, owly does not), ease to handle multiple accounts.
None of them offer all of this. Drives me freaking crazy. LOL