Apple has bought social media analytics firm Topsy Labs for more than $200 million, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

It's not immediately clear what Apple plans to do with Topsy, but it could use the analytics firm to better target advertisements within iAd and iTunes Radio. Apple could also use Topsy to research customers for product targeting within Apple Retail. 

Apple confirmed the deal using the typical boilerplate statement that it releases when buying smaller companies. The company didn't go into specifics, and Topsy hasn't provided any additional information. 

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," the company told Pocket-lint in a statement. 

Topsy is a company based in California, and it's a certified partner with Twitter in order to maintain a comprehensive index of tweets. Topsy's products include the ability to search, analyse, and draw insights from conversations and trends on the social web. 

Apple has been on a shopping spree lately, snatching up several companies with its more than $137 billion cash in the bank. Its most recent buys were the acquisition of PrimeSense, a company behind the original Xbox Kinect, and a mapping company called Embark.