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Twitter test 'promoted tweets' - ads in user's stream

Twitter is trying out a new feature to display ads, or promoted tweets, directly in a user's Twitter stream.
Written by Lance Whitney, Contributor

Twitter is trying out a new feature to display ads, or promoted tweets, directly in a user's Twitter stream, but the company admits it's watching carefully to see how people react.

The site expanded its "promoted tweets" feature yesterday, starting slowly by displaying the ads only for those who use HootSuite, a third-party Twitter client. Promoted tweets are tweets that advertisers pay to show to a large number of people, similar to the way advertisers pay for sponsored links that appear among search results at Google.

Those who access Twitter through HootSuite will begin to see ads in their timelines that Twitter is promising will be relevant to their interests and activities. Some HootSuite users may not see any ads, while others will see them pop up in different places on their timelines, according to Twitter's official blog. The appearance and frequency of the ads will depend on their relevance to each user.

For more on this story, read Twitter squeezing ads among tweets on CNET News.

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