TIMES ONLINE: Twitter users are to see advertising on the site for the first time, as the microblogging service unveils a much-anticipated plan to transform itself into a profitable business.
The four-year-old company will today announce a new service called Promoted Tweets, which will allow businesses to buy keywords. "Tweets" written by the company will then appear at the top of the page when a user has searched for that word, much like on Google.
The adverts, which will be limited to 140 characters like all messages on the site, will only show up in search results. This means users who do not search for something will not see them in their regular Twitter streams. Over time, they may appear in the stream of posts users see when they log on.
Starting today, Twitter will reveal the first adverts to around ten per cent of users. They will include “tweets” from companies such as Starbucks, Virgin America and Best Buy, the electronics retailer. >>> Francesca Steele | Tuesday, April 13, 2010
