Twitter announced Wednesday that it would offload MoPub, the mobile ad platform it bought back in 2013, selling the company to mobile game and marketing software maker AppLovin.
Twitter paid around $350 million for MoPub back in 2013 and will sell the company for $1.05 billion in cash. MoPub helped Twitter bring in around $188 million in revenue last year, according to the company. Twitter previously set a goal of doubling its annual revenue by 2023.
“This transaction increases our focus and demonstrates confidence in our revenue product roadmap, accelerating our ability to invest in the core products that position Twitter for long-term growth and best serve the public conversation,” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a press release.
Twitter CFO Ned Segal characterized the deal as a way for the company to refocus around what he describes as a “massive” advertising opportunity in the midst of Twitter’s recent flurry of new product development. Segal said that Twitter will emphasize developing its own owned and operated products instead, though it does seem to be investing broadly in acquisitions that mesh with that vision in recent months.
For a company that was mostly on cruise control previously, Twitter has made a number of major moves to shake up its business this year. In a series of rapid-fire product launches, Twitter is exploring new revenue streams that tap into explosive growth in the creator economy with features like Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces, though those products have limited adoption for now.
The company has made a number of acquisitions this year that point to its many new directions, including ad-free reading tool Scroll (a deal that includes Scroll’s excellent but now defunct news aggregator Nuzzel) and popular newsletter platform Revue.
Twitter also launched Clubhouse-like audio rooms, new interest-based communities and a number of experimental features designed to make the platform a less toxic more pleasant place to spend time, all of which will likely come into play as the company gears up for a broad launch of its paid monthly subscription service Twitter Blue.