Rumor Mill: Twitter Buys Summize AND Now Stable?

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 by Andy Beal

Rumor Mill: Twitter Buys Summize AND Now Stable?

Just when you thought Twitter was a dead duck, a flurry of news suggests there’s life in the old bird yet!

First up, rumors are circulating that Twitter has acquired Summize. There’s no official confirmation yet, but Summize’s search engine and sentiment analysis of Twitter would certainly make a sensible acquisition. Not so much for the public-facing interface, but for the gigabytes of useful information Summize can feed to Twitter’s developers.

Changing focus, VentureBeat reveals that, despite Twitter’s performance issues, the service is still growing strong. In fact, even new competitors such as FriendFeed and Plurk, didn’t prevent Twitter from reaching record levels of users in June. As VentureBeat suggests, at this point Twitter’s biggest enemy is itself.

Every time Twitter is offline, a competitor gets its wings!

So, how is Twitter handling its performance issues? Well, it must be close to being back on track considering its recent talk about improving its API.

The Twitter API is a big part of our success and we will be stabilizing and improving it in the short term. The rate limit is currently set to 20 requests per hour but we’re working to bring it back to 70.

Let’s hope this is a sign that Twitter’s core functions–such as replies and archives–are now stable. Surely Twitter wouldn’t dare talk about API improvements, without first addressing issues with its basic functions.

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18 comments on “Rumor Mill: Twitter Buys Summize AND Now Stable?”

Joe Hall Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 11:27 am

Andy, every time twitter fails, I think about this blog post. Seriously, I don’t see twitter locking out their competition until they are able to monetize their service. All the users and company acquisitions won’t pay the bills and VC money doesn’t grow on trees.

Joe Hall’s last blog post..Top 5 National Real Estate Franchise Web Sites
Utah SEO Pro Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 12:10 pm

I’m surprised Twitter doesn’t just make their own version. Either way, it’s great for them to purchase Summize.

Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Interview with SEO: Brian Carter and Search Engine Journal Post
Wonder Why Twitter is Buying Summize Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

[...] Rumor Mill: Twitter Buys Summize AND Now Stable? [...]
eBook Reviews Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

Well, that funny because just recently I decided to start using Twitter. I did some research on it first, and a lot of the people I talked to said the service was dying out. Obviously, they were wrong. It’s good to see that Twitter is on the rise.

eBook Reviews’s last blog post..What is an eBook?
Ashley Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Is twitter unable to make their version???
Saad Kamal Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

I don’t think Twitter really cares about monetization at this point. Well they should not!

They have built up a strong user base, and people who are dedicated to twitter..will stick to it, no matter what.

They just need to straighten up some of their problems and make a stronger platform first.
Raj Krishnaswamy Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Hope Twitter the falling bird wont ground down Summize too!
Nick Stamoulis Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 3:18 pm

We’d have to agree on Twitter’s only enemy being themselves. We hope that this gives them the momentum to get back on track in terms of continuous growth & success.
Search Engine Optimisation Says:

July 8th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

I think that twitter will heat up soon enough. They have had alot of teathing problems of late, however, they do have a good following already. I fthey want to keep that, and increase their presence, they need to strengthen internally first.
Top Rated Digital Says:

July 9th, 2008 at 12:50 am

Yea, Twitter is far from dead. It has too much momentum on it’s side (for whatever reason). Once the tweener crowd get’s a hold of anything it’s pretty much guaranteed an audience. At least for a while.

Top Rated Digital’s last blog post..The Top 10 Digital Cameras Ripped Apart
xBoxHomeGame Says:

July 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am

Twitter has been so promising at the start. But has alot of problems lately. Time for them to shake up..
MB Web Design Says:

July 9th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

Twitter has the user base but really is it a website/business that can’t be bettered easily by another organisation? I’ve dipped my toe in the water and though it’s so frequently used by many people I’m in touch with, I find it an unwelcome distraction. Each to their own I guess
SiteProNews: Optimize Your Website…and They Will Come | Fighting Spam Says:

July 9th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

[...] Rumor Mill: Twitter Buys Summize AND Now Stable? [...]
Better..Best..Bested « Says:

July 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

[...] Meanwhile, the proposed competitor to email, micro blogging, and more specifically Twitter also seems to be on a constant improvement mode. After being heavily criticised for their downtime, they seem to be getting that under control and now the rumour mills are abuzz with their proposed purchase of Summize. [...]
Forumistan Says:

July 11th, 2008 at 11:50 am

Twitter is unable to make their version.
Fifty Studio Says:

July 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

I haven’t seen this rumor anywhere else. “Does” mill mean it was generated here?
Andy Beal Says:

July 11th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

@Fifty – no we don’t mill our own rumors. Click the first two links in the post.
Saad Kamal Says:

July 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

Fifty Studio:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A%22Twitter+Buys+Summ ize%22&btnG=Search

Marketing Pilgrim