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Klout Reworks Online Scoring Formula

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. So we just heard in Renee's conversation there that American Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas has hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, giving her clout with potential sponsors.

Our last word in business today is Klout spelled with a K. Klout, k-l-o-u-t, is a Web startup that's been around for a few years. The company says it can measure your online influence by using a special algorithm.

But Klout had a lot of critics who said the formula was way off. As Reuters points out, at first, pop sensation Justin Bieber had a much higher Klout score than President Obama. But Klout says it has just reworked the way it calculates online influence, and the president of the United States now has a higher score than Bieber, which might not sit well with the Beliebers.

That's the business news for MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.