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Apple shutters Topsy, the social analytics firm it acquired in 2013
Apple is shutting down analytics firm Topsy Labs two years after snapping it up for over $200 million. Unlike Hopscotch, though -- the mass transit directions and guides it bought in 2013 and shuttered in September -- it's not quite clear what Topsy's technology was ever used for. The San Francisco firm created tools that allowed users to search and extract data from Twitter and other social media services. Those include keyword trackers and products that can determine whether a particular topic is being talked about positively or negatively on social media.
Apple buys Twitter analytics firm Topsy for over $200 million
Apple already benefits greatly from social media hype surrounding its product reveals, and now the company is looking to get super serious about Twitter. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has bought up Topsy Labs Inc., a San Francisco-based social search and analytics firm. The purchase will reportedly set Apple back over $200 million. Topsy offers a couple of commercial products, including Topsy Pro Analytics which is a paid version of the free Topsy keyword tracker available on the company's main website. Above just tracking mentions of certain words, Topsy's tools are designed to help determine whether chatter about a certain topic is positive or negative. As is usually the case with these types of acquisitions, we're not likely to hear any specific plans for Topsy from Apple. Instead, when Apple integrates some crazy new social feature into a future version of iOS a year or two down the road or suddenly begins promoting apps to you based on your social chatter, we'll all remember Topsy and go "So that's what they were up to!" Still, TechCrunch offers some speculation.
Apple stepping into social with acquisition of Twitter analytics firm Topsy
Despite the number of acquisitions Apple has made over the year, the Cupertino company is not done buying up companies just yet. Indeed, Apple has just purchased Topsy, a company that specializes in Twitter analytics, for a reported $200 million. For the uninitiated, Topsy offers a suite of tools to help anyone search and analyze tweets to as far back as when the social media company started back in 2006. Companies often use Topsy to look for how often a particular keyword is tweeted, be it a person, a subject or a certain event, to see what's popular with the public at any given moment. It's not exactly clear what Apple will do with the acquisition, though hopefully it'll fare much better than its other foray into social networking.
Topsy lets you search tweets from 2006, look up old cringeworthy posts
Next time you're feeling nostalgic and want to peruse old Twitter posts -- such as in 2006, when Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status -- you might want to pay Topsy a visit. The social search engine, which could previously look for posts up until 2010, has expanded its archives to include tweets from as far back as Twitter's birth in 2006. Simply input terms in the search box, and you'll find their newest and oldest mentions on the site. Even better than that, you can use the site to read every single tweet a user has ever posted by querying "from:yourusername," making it easy to look for the first time you tweeted about Lady Gaga's wardrobe. Before you run off and facepalm at your old tweets, though, check out @engadget's first one by Ryan Block after the cut.
