Twitter data valued as worthless?

Interesting article from Business week, putting a $ value on tweets.


Google and Microsoft are paying Twitter $25 million to crawl the short posts, or tweets, that users send out on the micro-blogging service. It sounds like big money. Enough for Twitter to turn a small profit in 2009, say two people familiar with the company's finances.

But do the math and the payments look less impressive. Last year, Twitter's 50 million users posted 8 billion tweets, according to research firm Synopsos, which means Google and Microsoft are paying roughly 3¢ for every 1,000 tweets. That's a pittance in the world of online advertising. Top media sites often get $10 or $20 per thousand page views; even remnant inventory, leftover Web pages that get sold through ad networks, goes for 50¢ to $1 per thousand. The deals put "almost no value" on Twitter's data, says Donnovan Andrews, vice-president of strategic development for the digital marketing agency Tribal Fusion.

Truth is, no one has figured out how to make real money off of tweets yet. Google and Microsoft are paying $15 million and $10 million, respectively, as a bet on the future. By laying out what are relatively tiny sums, they get first crack at experimenting with Twitter data. Both are already including tweets in search results. Sean Suchter, general manager of Microsoft's Search Technology Center, predicts the company will end up profiting. "Many times in history when you amass the attention of users, that has proven to be a moneymaking endeavor," he says.

Full article:
How Much Are Twitter's Tweets Really Worth? - BusinessWeek

__________________
cheers
Steve

Online Marketing | Free USA Business Directory | My Local Blog | Jobs Vitae

Forum Rules FAQ's & Help

If you're here to spam, then expect a ban Copy & Paste monkeys - we're watching you!

My tweets are worth that on their own!

__________________
Web Design Portfolio | Social Media beats SEO

lol twitterer to the stars...

__________________
cheers
Steve

Online Marketing | Free USA Business Directory | My Local Blog | Jobs Vitae

Forum Rules FAQ's & Help

If you're here to spam, then expect a ban Copy & Paste monkeys - we're watching you!