Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has announced an agreement to buy Indian mobile marketing startup known as ZipDial. The financial details of the acquisitions weren’t disclosed. However, Twitter said the deal will enable it to add more users to its network, especially in the markets outside the U.S.
Analysts and investors have in the recent time questioned Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s growth, especially after the most recent user growth update slowed a slowdown in new user acquisition. With the acquisition of ZipDial, Twitter has started sending out a signal that it is doing something to accelerate user growth. Perhaps that move will help cool investors agitation for a management change.
Missed call concept
ZipDial is a startup based in Bangalore, India. The company is said to have about 60 million users currently. ZipDial offers mobile marketing solutions where users are able to place a toll-free “missed call” to a company and start receiving content and advertisements from that targeted company. The idea is that ZipDial enables people who cannot access the Internet to receive relevant content from providers through SMS, voice and other interfaces.
According to Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), acquisition of ZipDial will enable more people to access the microblogging platform around the world. That is expected to happen even in places where the Internet is inaccessible or too expensive for the population to afford.
Twitter predicts that billions of people will be coming online in the next several years, and their first experience with the Web will be through mobile handsets. However, the cost of Internet in such places as India, Brazil and Indonesia could prevent the people from experiencing the power of the Internet, which makes ZipDial a great idea.
Two years of collaboration
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) disclosed that has been working with ZipDial for over the past two years. They two companies have particularly collaborated in various campaigns that include Indian elections. The company said that the acquisition of ZipDial increases their investment in India, which is one of the countries where they see huge growth potential.
Twitter last reported having 284 million monthly active users. The company seeks to add more people to its network so that it can boost its advertising revenue.
