Twitter boosts social advertising push with Bluefin buy

Twitter has announced it has acquired a social TV analytics company in a move that will help the firm further increase its advertising offerings.

The micro-blogging site is hugely popular during mainstream TV events, including sports, shows such as the X-Factor and films. Twitter could potentially bolster its appeal to advertisers if it can target TV-watching tweeters.

No details of the deal were announced but Twitter said in a blog post it would immediately stop selling the Bluefin technology to other firms so it could take advantage of its technology itself.

"We believe that Bluefin's data science capabilities and social TV expertise will help us create innovative new ad products and consumer experiences in the exciting intersection of Twitter and TV," it said.

"This acquisition reflects our commitment to the social TV market, and builds on our exclusive partnership with Nielsen announced in December to develop the Nielsen Twitter TV Rating, the centrepiece of social TV measurement based on Nielsen's SocialGuide platform."

Bluefin said in a blog post that joining Twitter would boost its capabilities by enabling it to reach a bigger audience

"While our products have always included data from multiple social media services, the reality is that Twitter is the platform where the overwhelming majority - about 95 percent - of public real-time engagement with TV happens," it said.

The move comes just a few days after Twitter admitted some 250,000 accounts were hacked, seemingly via a Java exploit, that has led to calls for it to boost its security features.