You’ve probably noticed that little box just below the user information on user profile pages. Well before now they’ve only linked to some internal pages of twitter.
Lately I’ve seen this question all over the web, “How does twitter make money?”. Well to put it simple, they don’t.But now twitter has started to advertise third party applications (for free).
The ads are unobtrusive and generally promote twitter related items so they blend nicely with the current layout. But the real question is how much does it cost to get your app featured in those new advertising spots. John Battelle said that Federated Media is sharing some of its revenues from ExecTweets but also notes that twitter has a history of promoting apps that they find interesting without receiving any compensation for it.
Meanwhile the creator of tweetie says that they aren’t actually spending a single dime to get featured on twitter and that twitter actually approached them. They explained that they want to promote apps that promote “variety, relevance, and value”.
Lets face it, Twitter has to make money somehow. With their minimalistic design makes it hard to include advertising without destroying the user experience. Anyway, the ads blend in so they don’t seem to be a huge problem.
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