The scale of microblogging site Twitter's success over the last year has been both astonishing and impressive - its traffic has increased 22-fold over the last year, and it is now the fastest growing site in the UK.
The one question that has never been adequately answered, though, is a simple one: "How does Twitter intend to make money?"
Twitter itself isn't short of cash - it has benefited from some serious injections of venture capital - but it seems in no hurry to reveal a profitable business model.
That's why the press eagerly pounced on Twitter investor Todd Chaffee's statement that the site aimed to monetise its service by allowing companies to embed coupons and ecommerce links in messages - sent automatically in response to questions like: "Which digital direct marketing company should I hire?"
Chaffee told the New York Times: "Commerce-based search businesses monetise extremely well, and if someone says, 'What treadmill should I buy?' you as the treadmill company want to be there."
Twitter's Chief Executive, Evan Williams, denied Chaffee's proposals. He said: "Todd... is not actually on Twitter's board and, in this article, he's brainstorming on his own. These are not in the least bit concrete plans of the company."
William's rebuttal will do nothing but fuel speculation about Twitter's future. With companies like Dell reporting profits of $3 million as a direct result of advertising via the microblogging site, investors will be wondering when some of those profits will go the way of the company that provides such a lucrative platform.
