Klout

In 2007, Joe Fernandez underwent a surgery that required him to wire his mouth shut. Because he could not speak for three months, he turned to Facebook and Twitter for social interaction. During this period, he became obsessed with the idea that "word of mouth was measurable." Pulling data from Twitter’s API, he created a prototype that would assign users a score out of 100 to measure their influence. Midway into 2008, he showed the prototype to some friends, who told him it was "the dumbest thing ever."

In 2008, the first version of Klout went online.

In September 2011, Klout integrated with Google+. In October, Klout changed its scoring algorithm, lowering many scores and creating complaints. In November, Klout partnered with Wahooly for their beta launch.

In January 2012, Klout was able to raise an estimated $30 million from a host of venture capital firms. In February, Klout acquired local and mobile neighborhood app Blockboard.

On March 28, 2013, Klout announced that it would begin including Instagram analytics in its algorithm.

On March 27, 2014, Klout was acquired by Lithium Technologies for $200 million.

In May 2018, Klout announced that it would cease operations on May 25, 2018. The closure had been planned for some time and was accelerated by the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Perks

The primary business model for Klout involved companies paying Klout for Perks campaigns, in which a company offers free services or products to Klout users who match a pre-defined set of criteria including their scores, topics, and geographic locations. While Klout users who had received Perks were under no obligation to write about them, the hope was that they will effectively advertise the products on social media. Klout offered the Perks program beginning in 2010. According to Klout CEO Joe Fernandez, about 50 partnerships had been established as of November 2011. In May 2013, Klout announced that its users had claimed more than 1 million Perks across over 400 campaigns.

Klout for business

In March 2013, Klout announced its intention to begin displaying business analytics aimed at helping business and brand users learn about their online audiences.

Content page

In September 2012, Klout announced an information-sharing partnership with the Bing search engine, showing Klout scores in Bing searches and allowing Klout users to post items selected by Bing to social media.