14 DAY TRIAL // Twitter is moving forward, albeit very slowly, with its advertising strategy. Very recently, it announced that it will be gradually opening up the ad platform to everyone, on a self-serve basis. Now, it's announcing that ads will start showing up in the official mobile apps as well, like they do on the web and mobile web versions of the site.
The same type of ads that are used on the web will show up in the apps too and they should look and function pretty much the same.
"With our most recent app updates, Promoted Accounts are now in Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android. And in the coming weeks, we’ll begin introducing Promoted Tweets in the timeline on these mobile apps," Twitter announced.
"Initially, a small number of users may see Promoted Tweets near the top of their timelines from brands they already follow. This will help ensure that people see important Tweets from the brands they care about," it explained.
Twitter is offering several ad types under the "Promoted" umbrella. Promoted Trends are exactly what they sound like, paid entries displayed next to the regular trending topics.
Promoted Tweets get a boosted visibility in search and they may show up on top of searches related to them. Both of these have been available in the mobile apps as well as on the mobile website.
Promoted Accounts are used in suggestions and Promoted Tweets in the timeline show up among regular tweets in the main feed. These have been available on the mobile website, but they will now be added to the apps as well. Promoted Accounts are already built into the mobile apps, Promoted Tweets in the timeline are coming soon.
Twitter has been moving slowly towards monetization. It started making some money through ads, but it is expected to significantly increase ad revenue this year, via the mobile expansion, but mostly via the self-serve option.