Twitter Wants To Buy Tweetdeck

The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, April 19, 2011 11 AM

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Following top-level turnovers and broader strategy concerns, Twitter is in advanced talks to buy Tweetdeck for about $50 million, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The Register calls the reported acquisition price "small change to prevent the client turning into a competitor." Indeed, "Twitter may be trying to pull the rug out from under a potential new direct competitor," seconds Computerworld. "TweetDeck competes directly with Twitter's Web and mobile clients."

Tweetdeck, which is used to view and manage tweets, appeals to Twitter "as it looks to add tools for power users," reports The Journal. The buy would also likely aid in Twitter's efforts to help new users navigate the service, while helping existing users discover new content. "Twitter wants to show how the service works to first-time users by highlighting tweets from people in their geographic regions, such as local politicians and musicians, when they first sign on," The Journal writes.

Calling the would-be deal "part of a broad effort to draw in more users," Digital Trends notes that it's not actually clear how many total users the client has. As VentureBeat points out, "The news may sound a bit familiar or confusing, since TechCrunch and others reported in February that UberMedia was finalizing a deal to acquire TweetDeck for $30 million." The likely explanation? "Either TweetDeck's discussions with UberMedia fell through, or Twitter made a competing offer."

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