http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/09/twitter-s-ipo
Twitter will have to overcome doubts about its business model. One of
these is whether the company will be able to generate much bigger
revenues without alienating customers who object to seeing ads sprinkled
across their phone screens. Another is whether Twitter will be able to
see off rivals such as Facebook, which has introduced features that
allow its users to conduct real-time conversations like those on the
micro-blogging service.
To help address these challenges, the
company has been on an acquisition spree. Earlier this week it snapped
up MoPub, a mobile-advertising company in San Francisco, for an
estimated $350m. MoPub’s technology will be used for real-time bidding
for ads that run on Twitter. This will enable the firm to target these
ads better and charge more for them. MoPub will also help Twitter place
the ads it sells on other mobile networks, taking a cut of the revenue
generated. Both capabilities will make Twitter a more powerful
competitor to the likes of Google and Facebook.
Other acquisitions
Twitter has inked this year, including Trendrr, a social-media
analytics company, and Bluefin Labs, will also strengthen its hand.
Bluefin, for instance, makes software that allows marketers to identify
users tweeting about particular TV programmes and lets them send
messages to those viewers.
