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Rumored Google, Twitter merge could be good for marketers

There’s been a serious back and forth in the rumor mill this week regarding a Google buyout of Twitter. Last year Twitter turned down a buyout offer from Facebook for $500 million, mostly in stock. While no announcements have been made, there has been much talk across the industry as to why an acquisition would be good for Google, Twitter and marketers alike.

Tech Crunch reported on Thursday that it heard from two sources that Google was in “late stage negotiations” to acquire the microblogging site. It was later reported by BoomTown that the companies were simply in some product-related discussions “around real-time search and the search giant better crawling the microblogging service.” But publicly, both companies have been skirting the issue.

Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder, responded to an e-mail from DMNews referring us to a blog post in which he wrote, “It should come as no surprise that Twitter engages in discussions with other companies regularly and on a variety of subjects. Our goal is to build a profitable, independent company and we’re just getting started.”

Google spokesperson Rachel Nearnberg wrote in an e-mail that Google doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.

David Berkowitz, director of emerging media and client strategy for 360i, said Twitter could offer Google better real-time search and other capabilities like increased brand and trend monitoring. On the flip side Google can offer Twitter two things it needs: “Twitter needs more reliable servers and it needs some sort of a business model,” he said, “Google has some flexibility to find a consumer-friendly way to monetize Twitter in a way that consumers and marketers can really get behind.”

He went on to say that a Google-owned Twitter partnership would entrench the idea of just how important a role Twitter Search can play for brands. “Google search optimization is at least a consideration for marketers,” Berkowitz said, “If an acquisition happens and Twitter’s growth rate continues, marketers will realize its importance as a tool and make it a larger part of their overall Web presence.” 

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