The Associated Press, a leading newswire agency, has started selling space on its Twitter Feed to generate more revenue. The first tweets will be coming from Samsung who is showcasing products at the current Consumer Electronics Show.
The AP is reporting from the CES as a part of their regular service with reporters keeping the newswire’s 1.5 million followers on Twitter up to date with the latest and greatest at the convention. However, a new deal struck between the AP and Samsung will allow the CES participant to send out two tweets a day as advertisements.
A “sponsored” label will appear next to each advertising tweet from Samsung but will not be through Twitter itself. The AP has decided not to go with Twitter’s advertising system and has made an arrangement with Samsung outside of Twitter’s control.
The practice is something Twitter looks down on and has been trying to replace with one of its own products so that they can generate revenue. If the AP experiment works out then many other Twitter accounts that have large followings will be clamoring to do the same. This will become an issue for the micro blogging site and its users just as other social media companies face the same struggle. Companies like Facebook and Twitter are in a constant struggle to generate money while trying to give users the freedom to do what they want with their accounts.
Twitter has put a stop to some types of advertising and after it launched its Sponsored Tweets product in 2010 the company stated that, “It is critical that the core experience of real-time introductions and information is protected for the user and with an eye toward long-term success for all advertisers, users and the Twitter ecosystem. For this reason, aside from Promoted Tweets, we will not allow any third party to inject paid tweets into a timeline on any service that leverages the Twitter API.”
Twitter had to clarify the matter because basically they had stopped automated tweets from third parties that had no supervision from the account holder. The micro blogging site said that, “ In cases where these Tweets are paid or otherwise sponsored, any payment arrangements are the responsibility of the user and the sponsoring brand or service. These “sponsored” Tweets are not prohibited, provided they clearly disclose the nature of the sponsorship on Twitter, and do not otherwise violate the Twitter Rules.”
The Director of AP Media Relations, Paul Colford, says that the AP is “confident in our position,” and also added that “Twitter is pleased” with the deal.
Source: BuzzFeed
Panasonic Unveils Stylish Bone Conduction Headphones at CES
Quora Founder Adam D’Angelo Shares Facebook Experience
Lunches So Good Kids Can’t Ignore Them
Invigorating Ginger Smoothie
The U.K.’s Youngest Parents Ever
The new hair Jennifer Lawrence