Twitter trials Promoted Tweets syndication in user timelines

Six months after introducing its Promoted Tweets advertising program in conjunction with search results, Twitter is now trialing the program in user timelines in partnership with social media dashboard solutions provider HootSuite. According to Twitter, the trial will closely track how users react to and engage with Promoted Tweets in their content streams: "We want to display Promoted Tweets in a way that's both useful and authentic to the Twitter experience," writes director of communications Matt Graves on the Twitter Blog.

During the trial period, Twitter will experiment with where and when Promoted Tweets are incorporated into timelines, adding that while not all HootSuite users will see the ads, those who do will encounter different promotions in different places in their timeline. "As with Promoted Tweets in search, we will display Promoted Tweets in the timeline when they are relevant," Graves explains. "Similar to our Promoted Account recommendations, we use several signals to determine a Promoted Tweet's relevance to a user, including the public list of whom they follow."

The Promoted Tweets model signals Twitter's evolution from pop-culture phenomenon to revenue-generating business. Promoted Tweets show up when users search for keywords tied to advertiser campaigns--from there, Twitter inserts user-relevant promotional posts into the timeline based on metrics like geographic location or shared interests among followers. Promoted Tweets hinges on what Twitter calls "resonance"--the company measures ads according to nine factors, including the number of users who see the ad, the number who reply to it and the number who pass it on to their followers. If a post does not achieve a pre-defined resonance score, Twitter will no longer show it as a promoted post, meaning users will not see ads they don't find useful--in addition, advertisers will not have to pay for posts that are removed.

For more on the Promoted Tweets trial:
- read this Twitter Blog entry

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