Twitter bringing Promoted Tweets to mobile devices

March 20, 2012 - 22:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Twitter on Tuesday, March 20, announced it was bringing Promoted Tweets to mobile devices, Mashable reports.

The move, which Twitter had announced was coming last month, means Promoted Tweets will join Promoted Accounts on users’ mobile devices. Advertisers can also specify whether their Promoted Tweets will run on iOS, Android or other mobile platforms.

In a blog post, Twitter noted that the targeting is “great for brands who want to increase the prominence and reach of their message to a particular type of mobile user. For example, mobile game and app sellers can now pinpoint the users who are likely to purchase their products.”

Mobile users will see such tweets in the timelines of their iOS and Android Twitter apps. Promoted Tweets will appear in the timeline just once. The company claims that it will only display the Promoted Tweets in the timeline when they’re “relevant.” If the Promoted Tweet isn’t relevant, you can dismiss it from your timeline with a swipe.

Twitter was careful to note that as users scroll down their timelines, Promoted Tweets will flow with them. Users complained loudly when Twitter rolled out the “Quick Bar” - more commonly referred to as the “dickbar” - last March. The bar hovered at the top of screens as users scrolled, prominently displaying a rotating list of trends, including those paid for by sponsors. The Quick Bar was removed within a month of its release. The new version of Promoted Tweets for mobile appears to be Twitter’s more user-friendly compromise.

Twitter’s migration into mobile advertising comes as Facebook has also begun the process of integrating ads into its mobile apps.

Both are behind the curve compared to Google, which could see as much as $4 billion in revenues from mobile advertising in 2012, according to one analyst’s projection.

Advertising accounts for the bulk of Twitter’s revenues. The company generated $139.5 million in ad sales in 2011, according to estimates from eMarketer. Ad revenues are expected to grow 86.3% to $259.9 million this year.