Biz Stone Talks Commercial Accounts, Acquisitions

Commercial accounts are still on the way at Twitter.  Although, in a recent interview, cofounder Biz Stone declined to share specific launch dates (think "this year"), he did at least reconfirm this fact and hint at a few details and other moves.

Stone told Kim-Mai Cutler and Matt Marshall, "[W]e’ve identified a selection of things that businesses say are helping to make them more profit . . . .  We want to build statistics or analytics that let users know – ‘How am I doing on Twitter?’"

Then here’s another key point: people who use Twitter to market a brand are not going to be suddenly told one day that they must use a commercial account.  The upgrades and extra features should remain optional, whether you’re a solo blogger or a representative of Procter & Gamble.

"Twitter will still be free for everybody and we’ll still tell them to go crazy with it," Stone confirmed.

Finally, don’t be surprised if Twitter is on the big-fish end of some business acquisitions.  Stone said, "We’re at a point where even though we’re only two years old, acquisitions are definitely possible."