Twitter Inc. (TWTR) Acquires ZipDial For More Ad Revenue

Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR)’s ambition to expand its offerings in emerging markets has seen it seal a deal to acquire India-based ZipDial. The startup allows people to make phone calls to special phone numbers before incurring any charge. A deal of between $30 and $40 million had been mooted last week by TechCrunch, but Twitter has not yet confirmed the actual agreed fees.

The acquisition of ZipDial, according to Twitter’s blog post is in line with the company’s ambition of ensuring people in emerging markets are accorded an opportunity of experiencing the true value of the internet through affordable services. The platform combines SMS, voice and mobile web services that are always at hand to ensure the interconnection of both online and offline users on mobile devices.

The marketing platform has continued to gain traction in India through its unique business model of allowing people to access content for free. The agreement does not come as a surprise as Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) had already partnered ZipDial on a number of campaigns including Bollywood film promotions.

ZipDial has already taken three rounds of funding since inception in 2010 notably from Mumbai Angels, 500 Startups, Jungle Ventures as well as Times Internet. Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) affirms that it was not only attracted by the startups  missed call connection businesses, but  other use cases such as according users access to great content including audio programming as well as cricket scores.

ZipDial should be a great addition to Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) on the marketing front as the startup comes with a tool that allows marketers to measure the success of their advertising campaigns. The giant social network will look to use the tool to build a firm relationship with advertisers sure to be of great benefit in the push for more ad revenue, having failed to monetize advertisers in developed markets.

The acquisition increases Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR)’s investment in emerging markets where it expects to attain future growth having stagnated in developed markets.

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