<p> Twitter, the micro-blogging business, is buying a startup called Mixer Labs in an effort to pinpoint the locations of people posting messages on its service.<br />Mixer Labs, founded by two former Google employees, has developed a location-tracking tool called GeoAPI. Twitter Chief Executive, Evan Williams, believes GeoAPI could prove helpful by showing where people are as they share what they are seeing or experiencing.<br /><br />Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote in a blog: “When current location is added to tweets, new and valuable services emerge – everything from breaking news to finding friends or local businesses can be dramatically enhanced.”<br />“Our efforts in this area have just begun. Today, we’re excited to announce a major new step into the location-aware future.”<br /><br />Financial terms of the deal, which was announced last week were not disclosed.<br />Twitter has recently signed agreements with Microsoft and Google to allow the two technology companies access to its data for use in their search engines, Facebook has also agreed a similar deal. Silicon Valley speculation suggested that the site could be charging Google $15m and Microsoft $10m for use of the data – leading to the idea that the startup could be making a profit.<br />The speculation has countered online criticism about Twitter’s lack of a business model and difficulties in making money.<br /><br />About 58 million people around the world use Twitter, which accommodates messages of no more than 140 characters. The company which is based in San Francisco, has raised about $155m from investors since its inception in 2006.<br /></p>
<p> Twitter, the micro-blogging business, is buying a startup called Mixer Labs in an effort to pinpoint the locations of people posting messages on its service.<br />Mixer Labs, founded by two former Google employees, has developed a location-tracking tool called GeoAPI. Twitter Chief Executive, Evan Williams, believes GeoAPI could prove helpful by showing where people are as they share what they are seeing or experiencing.<br /><br />Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote in a blog: “When current location is added to tweets, new and valuable services emerge – everything from breaking news to finding friends or local businesses can be dramatically enhanced.”<br />“Our efforts in this area have just begun. Today, we’re excited to announce a major new step into the location-aware future.”<br /><br />Financial terms of the deal, which was announced last week were not disclosed.<br />Twitter has recently signed agreements with Microsoft and Google to allow the two technology companies access to its data for use in their search engines, Facebook has also agreed a similar deal. Silicon Valley speculation suggested that the site could be charging Google $15m and Microsoft $10m for use of the data – leading to the idea that the startup could be making a profit.<br />The speculation has countered online criticism about Twitter’s lack of a business model and difficulties in making money.<br /><br />About 58 million people around the world use Twitter, which accommodates messages of no more than 140 characters. The company which is based in San Francisco, has raised about $155m from investors since its inception in 2006.<br /></p>