Twitter Uber Alles: Business Applications From The Web's New Phenom

Twitter, the short texting web success, adds millions of new users every month. No one has been able to figure out how to make money on the service, at least no one at the company.

Twitter will launch applications aimed at helping it bring in revenue by providing services related to its product

According to Reuters, these tools will be ready by the end of the year.

Businesses and enterprises are already making money with Twitter, primarily by using it to promote local product availability and sales. A Best Buy (BBY) location can set up a Twitter account and send users who live close to the store information about sales and new products.

Twitter may not be able to keep ahead of what businesses are already doing to exploit the service. Since it is simple to use, offering tools to help enterprises make money and add some revenue to Twitters P&L may fail. Tools are only useful if they work. Companies that want to profit from the service have created their own methods to access the service to make money.

Twitter’s failing may be that it has created a product that it too perfect for it to add robust features that will help its own business plan.

Douglas A. McIntyre