By Yoree Koh and Tess Stynes 

Twitter Inc. agreed to acquire data partner Gnip, in a sign that the messaging service wants to increase its role in providing analysis of tweets to advertisers.

Financial terms of the deal weren't provided.

Gnip is one of a handful of Twitter partners with access to the so-called "fire hose"--the full stream of tweets since 2006, which now average roughly 500 million a day. Gnip then analyzes this information and resells it to its customers.

The acquisition of a key data reseller marks a shift for Twitter, which has left such analysis to partners. The company last year received $70.3 million in revenue, or 11% of its annual total, from licensing its data.

The deal also shows the value of such data and reflects the growing demand from advertisers for better information.

In a blog post, Gnip Chief Executive Chris Moody said the acquisition "signals clear recognition that investments in social data are healthier than ever."

Analyzing the global conversation that occurs on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook is becoming big business. Companies like Gnip study the constant stream of real-time opinions and mine it for insights into how people feel about products and brands.

Last year, Apple Inc. acquired Topsy Labs Inc., a Gnip rival, for more than $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Another Gnip rival Data Sift secured $42 million in funding in December--triple the amount the company raised the previous year--for a total of $70 million to date. A representative for Data Sift was unavailable to comment on what the recent deals for rivals Gnip and Topsy Labs mean for the company.

Twitter said Tuesday that it plans to continue making its data available to Gnip's growing customer base, as well as use Gnip's staff in efforts to extend its own data platform.

Gnip serves customers in more 40 countries, according to its website. Gnip's website said the company was the first authorized reseller of Twitter data and the first company to offer access to the complete archive of publicly available tweets. Gnip also provides access to social data sources other than Twitter, including Facebook Inc. and Tumblr Inc.

Mr. Moody said in his blog post that the company joined with Twitter four years ago and has delivered more than 2.3 trillion tweets to customers. The company expects the acquisition by Twitter will enable it to support a broader set of uses.

Write to Yoree Koh at yoree.koh@wsj.com and Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

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