Twitter acquires social TV startup Trendrr

By Cory Bergman 

If Twitter’s acquisition of Bluefin Labs six months ago reflected its “commitment to the social TV market,” then today’s announcement that it bought Trendrr reflects its efforts to dominate the social TV space outright. Trendrr CEO Mark Ghuneim announced the acquisition: “We are excited to be joining Twitter’s world class team, enabling us to realize bigger opportunities that drive better experiences for users, media and marketers – across Twitter and around the globe,” he said in a blog post.

Trendrr’s specialty is social TV analytics, but the company’s Curatorr product — which recently joined Twitter’s certified products program — enables companies to curate and display custom Twitter experiences. “(We) will work with media companies, marketers, and display ecosystem partners to create compelling user experiences – continuing to pursue our initial charter of focusing on the real-time aspects of TV and media,” Ghunheim said.

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This will enable Twitter to offer more comprehensive solutions for brands and media partners, tied into its own analytics and advertising products. Trendrr said it would continue to honor partner contracts for Trendrr.TV, but it does not plan to bring on any new clients moving forward.

Trendrr won’t be working with Facebook anymore, either. Last month, Trendrr announced that it had partnered with Facebook to examine previously unreleased data, which revealed that Facebook has five times more social TV activity than Twitter. That sparked some speculation that Facebook may scoop up Trendrr to help it justify its social TV impact and tap into TV ad dollars.

But with Facebook trying to elbow its way into the social TV game, Twitter is doubling down again. Trendrr and Bluefin Labs were among the most talked-about social TV startups, and SocialGuide — which was swept up by Nielsen — is working with Twitter on the new Twitter rating.

“Our success has been a tireless team effort involving innovative people and amazing clients pushing us to excellence,” Ghunheim says in his blog post. “Respect to everyone who helped us navigate this journey and provided guidance and support – we could not have gotten here without you – and to our friends in the fourth estate not just in reporting on an important trend but being publishing partners around something important, something exciting, something transformative taking place for us all.”

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