SEOmoz, the Seattle-based, SEO tool, die, search and social analytics foundry, has announced the acquisition of a Portland-based team that is a powerful Follower tool for Twitter analytics, at least for as long as Twitter ‘s API remain accessible to the Web tools’ marketplace.
Using Followerwonk , Twitter users can study the “bio’s” of their Twitter followers, weed our dormant users, and compare profiles with other Tweeters to profile new followers. By logging in with your Twitter account, Followerwonk wil overlay your follow status and let you compare your social graph to competitors, friends or industry leaders, slice your foll,owers into actionable segments, and sport Twitter followers nu name, days on Twitter, tweet count, and more. Followerwonk records every new relationship you form and les you quickly explore those relationships in spreadsheet-like fashion.
SEOMoz founder and CEO, Rand Fishkin, explained his interest and pursuit of the acquisition on his blog:
“After our funding from Foundry earlier this year, I reached out to Peter Bray, Followerwonk’s founder and CEO, to talk about a potential acquisition. Normally, I like to be wholly transparent about everything we do here at SEOmoz, and that would include acquisitions. However, in this case, I can’t reveal all the details around the transaction. In being empathetic to the Followerwonk crew’s personal finances, the best I can say is that the total deal value is in the low 7 figures (between 1mm and 4mm) and that it includes three items – cash upfront, ongoing cash incentives for the years the Wonk crew stay at Moz, and SEOmoz stock.”
“This also means SEOmoz now has a permanent presence in Portland, Oregon, at Peter’s home, where he and Galen often work (and go to lots of coffee shops, too). In the future, we may establish a full office in Portland, mostly because we all love their restaurant and bar scene, and also because maybe their hipster clothing stores are way cooler than what I can find in Seattle.”
“Technically, this isn’t our first acquisition, wrote Rand. “Back in 2008, we purchased Chas Williams’ personal project, Blogscape, for the tidy sum of ~$20K (if memory serves). Chas came to SEOmoz as part of that deal and worked on Linkscape (now Mozscape) for several years before moving on. However, Followerwonk is certainly our first major acquisition and we’ve had such a good experience so far that we’ll be likely looking to make more, similar investments in the future.”
The Followerwonk service is now incorporated into the SEOmozPro Tools bunde of services offered by the company for around $100 a month.
SEOmoz announced $18 million in venture financing on May 1, 2012 from the Foundry Group and Ignition Partners. The uniquely creative, Meme-based press release is online. [24×7]
