Yatterbox follows more than 4,000 influencers drawn from the media, politics and other opinion formers, with plans under way to expand the platform to 25,000 people by the end of the year.
Mike Robb, head of corporate at Cicero, said client need had been a driver for the move and warned that some comms agencies risked failing to keep up with online conversations.
He said: ‘Public affairs especially is behind the conversation that is already taking place, whether it is in Parliament or elsewhere.’
Cicero has snapped up the firm only five months after partnering with it on a joint venture designed to provide its financial services clients with political monitoring.
Calling the purchase a ‘game changer’, Robb added: ‘Agencies will need to up their game as the intelligence coming through the system will be going to their clients, and consultants will need to react quicker than ever. It will also put a lot more power in comms directors' hands.’
Access to Yatterbox across both online and mobile platforms will be free while the service is enhanced further in the next three to six months.
Yatterbox founder Matt Freckelton and chief technology officer Mark Hudghton have joined Cicero as part of the deal.
