Twitter slips ads into user tweet streams

Twitter is now slipping ads directly into user "tweet streams," those personal "timelines" of mini-messages that have so captivated certain portions of the world population.

On Monday, the company announced that it is now including "promoted tweets" – aka paid advertisements – in the timelines of those using HootSuite, a third=party Twitter client. Advertising Age, which first revealed the program, says the company will show similar ads if all goes according to plan on HootSuite.

Previously, promoted tweets only turned up in Twitter search results. The company also offers "promoted trends" – which pop up in the site's "trending topics," a list of the most popular subjects on the micro-blogging service – and "promoted accounts," which appear in the list of Twitter accounts the site suggests you should follow.

"Since their introduction, users have engaged with Promoted Products on Twitter at rates that far exceed typical forms of online advertising," the company said in a blog post. Naturally, it contends that adverting makes your life better. "This next phase will bring Promoted Tweets to a wider audience and help even more people discover interesting accounts, people and information they may otherwise have missed."

Asked to comment on the change, the company referred us back to the blog post.

Twitter is selling the ads, according to Advertising Age, and HootSuite gets a cut. ®