Klout Purchased for $200 Million

Mary Gutierrez | @MaryyAlyssa

Social customer service company, Lithium Technologies, announced on Thursday that they acquired Klout for $200 million in cash and private stock, says The Hub Comms.

For those of you that don't know, Klout scores an individual from 0 to 100 based on their social media influence. The higher the score means the more messages and influences that an individual has on social media sites such as, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The scores are a beneficial way to monitor your presence on social media; however, people began using these Klout scores to discriminate against others. Klout never revealed the variety of factors that increased an individual's scores, which ultimately led to a decrease in the apps credibility.

Klout could have used its scores on the most influential people to give to marketers, but they missed their chance. They tried to offer analytics to marketers, but other platforms began to do the same and succeeded.

Even though Klout has been bought by Lithium platforms, they have ensured that the mission of the company will stay the same.

"With Klout, Lithium fully delivers on its vision of building a trusted online connection between consumers and the brands they care about," said Rob Tarkoff, Lithium President and CEO.

Lithium will be interested in Klout's data in order to better connect and understand the consumer. This could be the start of a new beginning for Klout.