Twitter's Ad Platform to Launch

Last Tuesday Twitter is launched the much anticipated (and feared by some) advertising Platform !

"We hope you'll share in our enthusiasm as today we unveil a simple service we're calling Promoted Tweets. It's non-traditional, it's easy, and it makes a ton of sense for Twitter," writes Biz Stone on the Twitter Blog.

Biz Stone

In additon, "Tomorrow at Chirp, both Dick (Costolo, COO-Twitter) and our fearless leader Evan Williams will further discuss this program and what it means for the Twitter ecosystem. " He adds, "This announcement is a long time coming and we're thrilled to finally be able to share it with you. As this project matures, there will be more to talk about. We will learn a lot as the program grows. "

According to AdAge and The New York Times, this platform will give businesses the opportunity to insert their message into the Twitter stream above the other messages, similar to what UberTwitter does on your BlackBerry. The first phase will be search results and soon after both the Twitter.com stream as well as third-party application such as TweetDeck and Tweetie <<<acquired by Twitter last week. There will only be one advertisement displayed at a time.

Do I think this is a bad thing--heck no.

I believe in free enterprise, Non-Traditional Revenue opportunities and clever marriage of ad and content.  There are some who think this is the demise of Twitter before it has even rolled out. To them I say: Take a deep breath---relax.  We all buy things. This is a fact. We all get our buying signals from different mechanisms.  TV commercials, Tshirts, driving down the road on billboards, radio stations. On any given day we are exposed to over 2500 different advertisements from the time we wake up to our Sony alarm until we go to bed on out Ralph Lauren sheets.

As you will note in the add above, it is a GOOD OFFER and FREE.  In this economy aren't we all looking for deals? I don't know everything but I do watch what is happening and looked at the Twitter module with awe and because of my NTR background dreamed of clever potential for revenue.   This is not a bad thing and we can probably expect some really great offers! Personally, I am looking forward to seeing what Virgin Airlines, Best Buy and Red Bull will put out since I am a consumer of all three!

-Jessica Northey, SocialMediologist and CEO-Finger Candy Media LLC