Twitter launches Promoted Accounts for app users

Twitter has made Promoted Accounts available for iPhone and Android app users, the company said in a Feb. 28 statement. Twitter will also begin introducing Promoted Tweets on the timeline on mobile apps “in the coming weeks,” according to the statement.

All three of the Promoted Products have been fully available to users accessing Twitter's mobile website. However, many of these products were not fully available through Twitter's official mobile app. Users of Twitter's iPhone and Android apps had to actively look for Promoted Tweets via the native search function. In coming app updates, Twitter will integrate Promoted Tweets organically into the timeline.

Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets are part of Twitter's Promoted Products portfolio of marketing services. The third product is Promoted Trends. The Promoted Products suite, launched throughout 2010, is essentially a pay-for-placement service that brands leverage to ensure maximum visibility of a specific trending topic, company profile, or tweet.

The most recent update to Twitter's iPhone and Android apps render Promoted Accounts automatically visible under the “Who to Follow” recommendations. Twitter will gradually roll out Promoted Tweets in the timeline over the next few weeks. “Initially, a small number of users may see Promoted Tweets near the top of their timelines from brands they already follow,” said the company, in a statement.

Twitter also said the appearance of Promoted Tweets on the iPhone and Android mobile apps will be consistent with the main Twitter site: “Promoted Tweets will appear in your timeline like any other Tweet, and like regular Tweets, they will appear in your timeline just once; as you scroll, the Promoted Tweet will flow with the rest of the Tweets in your timeline.”

Twitter emphasized that it will only display in a user's mobile app timeline relevant Promoted Tweets, which can be deleted by swiping.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.