Just like any other modern social network, advertisements are the main source of revenue for Twitter. In Twitter’s case for example, they have sponsored tweets where brands pay for their tweets to have a wider reach that extends beyond their following. Now Twitter has topped that with First View and it is a doozy.
So what is First View about? Well Twitter has made it in such a way that when you log in and post a tweet, the next tweet you will see on your timeline will be a promoted tweet from a brand. “First View helps marketers achieve significant audience reach with exclusive ownership of Twitter’s most valuable advertising real estate for a 24 hour period” the company said on their blog. “Marketers come to Twitter to reach this live premium audience through Promoted Trends and Promoted Moments creating significant brand moments for their product launches, event sponsorships, and film premiers.”
This strategy makes sense on Twitter’s side since its 320 million strong active user base are mostly glued on the timeline and it is only natural to use that as the platform to launch targeted ads. In their Q3 results that were announced on October, they caused their shares to plummet and the company under the leadership of their co-founder, Dorsey, has to impress for the new quarter (Q1). From the user base side, this will mean a decreased user satisfaction due to the bombardment of new ads and this reaction is yet to be documented.
Twitter says that First View is now being rolled out to clients based in the US and will later on expand it globally. Twitter has to make money and don’t be surprised if you see an ad after you tweet in the future or be as lucky as the elite who the company is willing not to show ads due to their influence.
