Twitter on Wednesday announced a new program to begin applying a “Certified” stamp, currently used on individual Twitter users and brands, to selected third-party products and apps that use’s Twitter data in ways of which Twitter approves. Currently, 12 partners of the “Certified Products” program are signed up, including popular Twitter client HootSuite and analysis company Topsy.
The move comes in the wake of Twitter cutting-off access to its data by other big-name former partners, including Instagram and Tumblr, which it said was part of a campaign to improve “consistency” and “simplicity” for its users.
The main difference between the companies whose products Twitter has picked as “Certified Products” and those Twitter is cutting off is that the “certified” companies offer or mainly cater their products to other businesses and major brands (Twitter mentions GM and Nike among them), which coincides with Twitter’s stated goal of selling more and different types of advertising spaces on its website.
