It's been a long time coming, but Twitter has finally revealed its grand advertising plan, and it comes in the form of Sponsored Tweets.
Set to be officially unveiled at the company's first-ever developer's conference this week, the Sponsored Tweets advertising programme will make official what businesses have been doing for some time – promoting their brand through the Twitter service.
The sponsored Tweets idea isn't exactly ground-breaking and some may have been thinking that Twitter were sitting on something much bigger, considering it has taken so long to reveal just how it will make the site profitable. But it seems the micro social-networking site has gone for the tried and tested formula of sponsorship for ad revenue.
This tweet is sponsored by…
The Sponsored Tweets service will be rolled out initially in search results – where you will be prompted to re-tweet an advert – but the ads will eventually make their way to users' Twitter feeds.
The first companies to take advantage of the service will be Starbucks, Bravo and Virgin America – all of these are currently prolific Twitter users.
The advertising system isn't the first time Twitter has come up with a money making idea. Just last month, the site announced the @anywhere platform which allows sites to embed the ability to use Twitter on any website. But it is the first time advertising has been this prolific on the site.
Twitter has had massive success in a short space of time. With $160 million of venture capital behind the site, it's got to start making money somehow.
Only time will tell, though, how intrusive the introduction of adverts will be to the website's talkative user base.
Via Cnet
