Twitter has announced an imminent cease and desist for third-party Twitter ad networks like Sponsored Tweets and Ad.ly who insert advertisements into user timelines (update: see our follow-up coverage – Twitter’s Ad Crackdown Alienates Developers… Again).
In a blog post, the company indicates that it has updated its Terms of Service, writing, “We will not allow any third party to inject paid tweets into a timeline on any service that leverages the Twitter API.”
The move is meant to preserve “the integrity and relevance of the timeline,” according to Twitter. Of course, it also means that Twitter’s own advertising offering — Promoted Tweets — will no longer have ad competition within the stream from third-party ad networks.
To clarify, Twitter’s decision only targets those that insert paid-for-tweets into user streams, and does not affect applications that show ads around Twitter timelines.
Twitter explains its decision citing two key reasons. “First, third-party ad networks are not necessarily looking to preserve the unique user experience Twitter has created … Secondly, the basis for building a lasting advertising network that benefits users should be innovation, not near-term monetization.”
Twitter also encourages developers to leverage the business opportunities that will be available once Annotations launches, suggesting that “Twitter clients could begin to differentiate on their ability to service different data-rich verticals like Finance or Entertainment.”
Today’s news is likely to garner mixed reactions from users, and reignite developer angst about Twitter. Obviously the third-party ad networks that have built their business models around monetizing in-stream tweets will be displeased with the news, but we can imagine that users confused by the ads in timelines will welcome the change.
[img credit: Victor Hernandez / CNN]
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