San Francisco, Oct 26 (IANS): Twitter reported a surge of 17 per cent with a revenue of $758 mn in the third quarter, but also saw a decline of nine million in its user base.

Twitter revenue was up 29 per cent (year-over-year) and advertising revenue reached $650 million. The monthly active users (MAUs) reached 326 million.

"We're achieving meaningful progress in our efforts to make Twitter a healthier and valuable everyday service," said Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey in a statement late on Thursday.

The micro-blogging platform said that its user drop was due in part to the company clamping down on accounts that disseminate spam or use automated bots to try to target legitimate users.

"We're doing a better job detecting and removing spammy and suspicious accounts at sign-up. We're also continuing to introduce improvements that make it easier for people to follow events, topics and interests on Twitter," he added.

The total ad engagements increased 50 per cent (year-over-year) and international revenue hit $335 million -- an increase of 30 per cent (year-over-year).

"This quarter's strong results prove we can prioritise the long-term health of Twitter while growing the number of people who participate in public conversation," said Dorsey.

Average daily active users (DAU) increased nine per cent year-over-year, compared to 14 per cent in the same period the previous year.

"Our third quarter results reflect our success with advertisers, delivering revenue growth of 29 per cent and better than expected growth across most products and geographies," said Ned Segal, Twitter's CFO.