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Twitter to start tracking users' mobile apps

The Twitter logo is seen at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twitter Inc will begin tracking what third-party apps are installed on users' mobile devices so the social media company can deliver more tailored content, including ads, the company said late on Wednesday.

The feature, called "app graph," will allow the company to see what other applications users may have installed on phones or other devices.

"To help build a more personal Twitter experience for you, we are collecting and occasionally updating the list of apps installed on your mobile device so we can deliver tailored content that you might be interested in," the company said on its site.

The posting also included instructions on how to turn the feature off. Twitter is not collecting data from within the applications, the posting noted.

Twitter, whose main service allows users to broadcast 140-character messages, has been searching for ways to re-invigorate user engagement and drive growth. As part of that effort, the company is considering creating additional mobile applications beyond its core messaging service.

An email to Twitter on Thursday was not immediately returned.

(Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Editing by Nick Zieminski)