Source: bloomberg.com
By Crayton Harrison
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc., the Web site that lets people post 140-character messages, plans to add services for businesses that will generate revenue in the fourth quarter, co-founder Biz Stone said.
The products might include an “analytics dashboard” to help companies monitor Tweets about their business, or verified corporate Twitter accounts, Stone told reporters yesterday at an event in Mexico City.
Twitter, based in San Francisco, is seeking ways to generate revenue after reaching 20.1 million U.S. users in June, according to researcher ComScore Inc. in Reston, Virginia. Companies using the service to communicate with customers may be willing to pay for added features, Stone said.
The paid services would probably be offered on a limited basis at first, Stone said. He didn’t say how much they will cost or how much revenue they could generate.
While Twitter is growing “like gangbusters,” there are many people who are aware of the site and aren’t yet using it, providing an opportunity for further expansion, Stone said. The company has a goal of expanding to about 100 employees this year from about 65, he said. Still, Twitter is being careful about ensuring it hires the right people, Stone said.
This month, the company hired Dick Costolo, a former Google Inc. executive, as chief operating officer.
To attract more people to Twitter, the company’s designers are also working on a project to help new users discover others who might have similar interests or who live nearby, Stone said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Crayton Harrison in Mexico City at tharrison5@bloomberg.net