'We've searched our last tweet': Apple shuts down the $200 million analytics firm it bought 2 years ago

Apple has shut down the social analytics service Topsy after acquiring the company for $200 million (£130 million) two years ago.

The closure had been a long time coming.

Apple stopped allowing sign-ups for premium accounts for the service last year and it has never been clear to the outside world what Topsy was being used for. 

Topsy made the closure announcement on Wednesday in its first tweet since being acquired by Apple:

Visiting Topsy.com redirects to an Apple Support page for searching on iOS. 

Topsy made searching social media accounts easier, providing analytics about who posted, where they posted from, and other kinds of information.

When Apple acquired the company, there was speculation that the data from Topsy would be used to power search and app recommendations in the App Store. 

Business Insider has reached out to Apple for comment. We will update the post when we hear back.