Oracle shoots for 'social intelligence'

Buys up social cloud app developer.

Oracle is acquiring Collective Intellect, a developer of cloud-based "social intelligence" applications that businesses use to monitor postings on Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks, Oracle said Tuesday.

Oracle said it expects to close the acquisition sometime in the second half of this year. It did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Collective Intellect, founded in 2005, develops applications that help businesses monitor, analyse and respond in real time to consumers' conversations on social media networks. That helps businesses leverage marketing campaigns and sales leads more efficiently, allowing them to quickly respond to customer service issues, Oracle said.

Collective Intellect's customers include CNBC, Viacom Media Networks, Hallmark, PepsiCo Beverages, General Mills and Nestle Purina Pet Foods.

Social media marketing applications are a hot area right now. Two weeks ago Oracle said it would acquire Vitrue, a developer of applications used to manage social media marketing campaigns. That acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is expected to be completed this summer.

Earlier this week Salesforce.com said it is spending $US689 million in cash and stock to buy Buddy Media, a developer of a software platform businesses used to manage social media marketing programs, including publishing content, placing advertising and measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Facebook currently has some 1.2 billion users while 1 million people view customer service-related tweets on Twitter every week. And 38 million people in the U.S. say their purchasing decisions are influenced by social media, according to statistics provided in an Oracle presentation on the Collective Intellect acquisition.

This article originally appeared at crn.com