Going Green: Promoted Tweets and the Monetization of Twitter
April 14, 2010 - By Dieter Schweiss
Twitter recently announced on its blog that it has decided to “go green,” following in the footsteps of companies such as Google and Facebook, which have also implemented their own green policies. This revelation came as a surprise to some users, while others have been expecting such a move for quite some time now. Twitter shared the name for its new green policy as part of its announcement, a service that it calls Promoted Tweets. However, there is more to this new service than simply promoting a Lieutenant Tweet to a Captain Tweet.
All kidding aside, this isn’t so much a “green” policy as it is a “going for the green” policy. Twitter has decided to generate additional revenue by working with a “handful of innovative advertising partners” on its Promoted Tweets platform. If successful, this could spur further growth for Twitter, which reached its 10 billionth tweet earlier this year.
Google monetized its search services years ago when it began including what it calls Sponsored Links, at the top of and/or in the sidebar of search results. For example, if you search for the word “coffee” on Google, you might see a Sponsored Link from Starbucks in your search results.
Example of a Sponsored Link from Google
Similarly, Facebook displays what it calls Sponsored Ads on its users’ home pages and in the sidebar of various Facebook applications. In addition to Sponsored ads, Facebook also displays targeted ads based on what it has determined is of interest to the user or the user’s friends. For example, if your friends like Starbucks, you might see an ad for Starbucks on your Facebook home page.
Example of a Sponsored Ad from Facebook
Twitter’s Promoted Tweets platform is the first phase of its attempt at monetizing the popular and traditionally free service by introducing what are essentially ads into certain search results. Twitter described Promoted Tweets as “ordinary Tweets that businesses and organizations want to highlight to a wider group of users.” For example, if you search Twitter for the word “coffee,” you might see a Promoted Tweet from Starbucks, or if you search for the word “television,” you might see a Promoted Tweet from Best Buy.
Promoted Tweet Example from Twitter
Subsequent phases may involve supporting Promoted Tweets in mobile Twitter apps and adding Promoted Tweets directly into user timelines. The earliest that Promoted Tweets would appear in user timelines would be the fourth quarter of this year, after Twitter determines how well Promoted Tweets have behaved in phase one. As Twitter mentioned in its announcement: “There is one big difference between a Promoted Tweet and a regular Tweet. Promoted Tweets must meet a higher bar—they must resonate with users. That means if users don’t interact with a Promoted Tweet to allow us to know that the Promoted Tweet is resonating with them, such as replying to it, favoriting it, or Retweeting it, the Promoted Tweet will disappear.”
So that brings us to the question: What do you think about Twitter’s use of Promoted Tweets to generate advertising revenue?
We’re interested in knowing your opinion on Twitter’s advertising venture. Please take a moment to visit our Twtpoll and cast your vote. Thanks!
