Twitter and Bloomberg have expanded their alliance with a deal for issuing more real-time data from the social media channel. The deal can be seen as a sign of the growing reliance of traders on Twitter.
More data to terminal users
In 2013, the U.S. SEC cleared the use of social media posts by companies for disclosing material information. Soon after this, Bloomberg started integrating financially relevant tweets to its news and data terminal. The editorial staff selects financially relevant tweets and integrates them into the news functions of the terminal for issuing alerts based on parameters set by the user. The terminal also offers tools to look at “historical Twitter volume and sentiment” about a company, Bloomberg said
Now with the new agreement, Bloomberg has agreed to increase the number of tweets carried on the terminal. The financial news provider offers real-time market data that will now be overlaid with some Twitter data. Bloomberg will also issue alerts when a particular company is trending on Twitter. The deal promises “more tools coming for commodities, foreign exchange, topics and regions.” Bloomberg also informed investors that relevant tweets made in some non-English languages will be translated.
“Our customers have told us that Twitter helps them uncover early trends, breaking news and sentiment shifts, which may be indicative of changing market conditions,” Bloomberg’s global head of product, Ben MacDonald said.
Data offers big potential for Twitter
The financial terms of both the previous and the expanded deal haven’t been disclosed, but it is a known fact that data is a big business for Twitter. This is the reason Twitter acquired Gnip, a data management company, for $134 million last year. “The Bloomberg partnership, albeit unique, is proof of the treasure trove that the company is sitting on,” says TechCrunch.
A few days ago, a similar kind of deal was entered into by Dow Jones and Symphony Communication Services, the instant-messaging company, says a report from USA Today. Dow Jones is a competitor of Bloomberg in the financial news and data business. Symphony is launching a secure messaging system this week, and it will include stories by The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. Symphony is marketing its services as an alternative to Bloomberg’s chatting tool, which is used by many traders and analysts for quick exchange of information. Symphony also plans to provide data from major research firms such as S&P Capital IQ and Selerity.
