
Twitter’s Official Analytics Product Has Arrived - bjonathan
http://mashable.com/2010/11/17/twitter-analytics/
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robfitz
And the muffled gasp of ten thousand analytics startups dying is heard across
the valley.

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jbail
This could be considered bad timing for Crowdbooster. Or maybe not.

Does this deter others from building businesses that are dependent on a third
party app/API? Or does competition provide validation that the idea has merit?

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hartror
If I was pg my first question to the Crowdbooster guys would have been "What
happens if twitter builds this?". And if I was the Crowdbooster guys my answer
would have been "Could twitter do this?" and shown plans to integrate with a
gambit of other platforms creating a central SNS hub with Twitter as just the
beginning.

When building on a platform you should always have plans for what happens if
the platform (or someone else for that matter) creates a offering similar to
your own.

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fookyong
So who does this directly compete with?

I can think of:

<http://backtype.com>

and of course

<http://bit.ly>

Any word from the above companies regarding this announcement?

The packaged response is usually "we work with more platforms" but when
Twitter represents 90% of the status update ecosphere, does that response
really cut it anymore?

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sahillavingia
<http://crowdbooster.com/> which just launched... today.

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adrianwaj
I released <http://twitya.com> in March 2009 and quickly (and slowly) saw
features from it become Twitter's interface. Twitya had a client interface
operating for a while until basic Auth ceased. Even today it has a bunch of
stats sites linked from it - those links will be less attractive to click now.

From this point-of-view, Twitter is like a system of organized theft with
plausible deniability. Nuturing the eco-system - but only so they can harvest
it. Like farmers preparing their fields, where you plant your seed, and then
they eat/sell the best ones when mature. The older/higher devouring the
younger/lower.

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zanderceo91
I understand it all about the MVP(minimal viable product), but honestly what
does their product offer that 100's of other companies don't? I mean, based on
what I saw, the functionality is going to very basic, basic stats, nothing
special, no sentiment analysis, nothing. I don't mean to bash them, I was just
expecting something more elegant.

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bruceboughton
Let's hope this isn't Twitter's only monetisation strategy.

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hartror
Doubtful, they're certainly not finished with advertising for a start. Then
there are plenty more premium features they can provide to businesses looking
get the most out of twitter.

Any one of the startups build around twitter is fair game, and they're
certainly not going to think twice about eating some startup's lunch.

~~~
iampims
…until they look too hungry and startups become scared to build on top of a
platform controlled by Twitter. Look at all the Twitter clients that vanished
when they bought Tweetie and released it for free.

~~~
hartror
But that is the point really. Does Twitter need them anymore? Just like
Facebook did, slowly cutting down the avenues that developers can access users
will increase Twitter's revenue. Developers want an audience so they will jump
through Twitter's hoops, just like they do for Apple.

From Twitter's the point of view they're looking to monetize their massive
user base, not sustain a startup ecosystem. They won't become overtly hostile
to developers or anything but if there is a choice between profit and
developers the developers will lose every time.

Anyone who thought this was ever going to be another way once Twitter was
established is a bit naive I'm afraid.

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iampims
That’s a good question, “Does Twitter need developers anymore?”.

I don’t have an answer to this, but alienating your developers, who are among
your most fervent users, is risky. Besides games, what’s left for developers
anyways, since Twitter reigns over url shortening, mobile Twitter clients,
stats, geolocation, recommendations, advertising …

edit: added advertising (through T&C) to the list

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dhotson
I wonder if Avi Bryant had anything to do with this?

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csprestoninc
Glad to hear this capability is finally going to be available from Twitter. In
order to successfully run your Social Media Campaign, you've got to know what
is and is not working.

When can we try it?

Brett Miller <http://www.customsoftwarebypreston.com/technologies>

