The Twitter Timeline Program is the first ad program that allows publishers to offer high-quality, real-time content to their audiences and drive incremental revenue with targeted ads. After trialling a new program with a select group of publishers that helps them earn revenue from embedded Tweets on websites, more details have been revealed about Twitter’s test.
Publishers can already see real-time Tweets on their webpage through embedded Timelines but now publishers can generate revenue from their sites thanks to the Twitter Timeline Program.
By signing up to the program, publishers will be able to show their audience relevant and engaging ads inside high-quality, real-time content – think streams of Tweets on blogs or news sites.
The platform states it will “automatically serve ads into Timeline embeds for domains that have opted into the program and been accepted, making it easy for publishers to earn money”. The ads are created and paid for by the advertisers that want to promote their products, and the new initiative will serve ads using automated software outside of its own platform, with ad units on various participating publishers’ websites.
To date, most of the platform’s revenue comes from ads served within its flagship website and app. However, Twitter will share the ad venue meaning that publishers get a cut of the revenue when ads are displayed in Twitter Timeline embeds.
The move may win over publishers looking to diversify their revenue streams, as publishers are always looking for new ways to make more revenue from their websites that are mainly dominated by display ads. At the moment, Twitter is only accepting US publishers for the program.
