Will Twitter Ride the Micropayment Revenue River?

The social media world is hot at the moment with the talk of takeovers and market floatation. Ever since the dot-com boom in the 90’s there has been a scramble to become the next internet millionaire with thousands of different sites being set up in the hope of the much-fated takeover that will boost them from obscurity into the limelight. However, over ten years on with the burning wreckage of a million internet hopefuls lying by the roadside what we are left with are a handful of major players standing out from the crowd as well established businesses in the old sense.

It seems at the moment that the discussions of Facebook, Linkedin, Groupon, MySpace, and now Twitter floating on the markets for exorbitant figures seems to be daily event. Core to the dot-com bust was the simple fact that many internet companies actually produced nothing in the way of traditional assets, meaning that despite a raft of overnight millionaires being made, the Buffetts of the world steered well clear. The question still remains that despite Twitter boasting over 200 million active members, it’s current incarnation is not actively monetised and generates very little revenue to justify the apparent $10 billion price tag.  However, with such titans as Google and Facebook respectively aiming to diversify into social media or further boost their dominance, as well as the possibility of filing for an IPO, it is clear that user numbers means big business.

Monetising post takeover Twitter, as well as other currently free to use social sites, will be crucial to any deals done with two clear paths likely be walked separately or simultaneously. Advertising is almost certain to be ramped up, but from other social media sites experience over advertising can quickly kill the messenger. This therefore leaves the possibility of implementing paywall solutions and micropayments for usage within the system, to access premium content or features to be the likely long term revenue generators. Examining the lead set by users in the publishing industry paying to access content through payment gateways could demonstrate to the social media world how best to inset an element of monetisation into their content; a case of the old guard setting the example to the young upstarts.

With over 11 years’ experience in developing robust payment gateways and content entitlement management systems, MPP Global can offer the tools to generate revenue in the areas you need it most.