Twitter bets on data business product to revive revenue

Twitter is doubling down on its data business with a new service that gives software developers more access to the social media company’s wealth of information. Twitter has long offered a way for brands or researchers to analyse events, sentiment and customer service. But an enterprise version for big brands was too expensive for developers, while a free version didn’t provide enough data. So the company is now offering a product that starts at $149 and will eventually give developers the full history of Twitter, all the way back to co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet in 2006. Data licensing and other revenue grew 22 percent to $87 million in the third quarter, representing 15 percent of total revenue.

BLOOMBERG< Iranian officials said there was little chance of finding more survivors from the earthquake that shook parts of western Iran on Sunday, killing at least 450 people, and rescue operations had now been called off, state television said on Tuesday. Survivors, many left homeless by the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck villages and towns in a mountainous area bordering Iraq, battled overnight temperatures just above freezing and faced another bleak day on Tuesday in need of food and water.

REUTERS<