Twitter buys company that analyzes tweets

Twitter has acquired Gnip, a service that aims to offer companies insight into messages on social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Using Gnip, Twitter wants to expand the data available through its own api.

The takeover of Gnip was announced by both Twitter and Gnip on Tuesday afternoon announced. It is unknown what Twitter paid for the start-up. To the best of our knowledge, Gnip will retain its Boulder office; Twitter itself has its office in San Francisco.

Gnip gives companies insight into social media posts; for example, the company collects all messages on Twitter in real time. The service can also estimate which tweets are of interest to a customer. The two companies signed a contract for this four years ago. Gnip also has contracts with other social media such as Foursquare and Tumblr.

According to Twitter, Gnip’s platform will remain online; that probably also means the company will continue to provide access to competing social media APIs. In addition, Twitter wants to expand the data it makes available, both via Gnip’s platform and via its own api. The company promises to provide more clarity about the exact plans that Twitter has with the acquired start-up.