This article quickly details the shutdown of the company Klout within the context of changing data privacy laws in Europe.
Klout debuted seven years ago, enabling users to see just how influential they were on social media. After initial success, Lithium Technologies acquired the company in 2014 for a $200-million USD stock deal.
But soon, users will have to use something different to track social media influence.
A Half-life due to Increasing Data Privacy Concerns
The site assessed user scores based on their presence on various social media platforms.
From Facebook to Instagram to LinkedIn and more, the Klout score fell between 1 and 100. Aspects such as follower count, retweets and shares, as well as the quality of follower accounts affected the overall score.
Microsoft also invested in the company in September 2012, sharing Bing search data with Klout. But the parent company Lithium Technologies no longer sees the value in Klout. CEO Peter Hess commented to ZDNet:
“The Klout acquisition provided Lithium with valuable artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities but Klout as a standalone service is not aligned with our long-term strategy.”
The platform announced that it will officially shut down on May 25th.
This is also the day that the European Union starts its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) initiative. Perhaps the reality of complying with new laws affected Klout’s efficacy, sparking the shutdown.
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