Twitter reveals more on how publishers can make money displaying ads in tweets on websites

Twitter CEO Jack
Dorsey
Francois Durand /
Getty

• New details have emerged about Twitter’s test with
  serving ads within Twitter Timelines that publishers embed into
  their websites.
• Twitter is splitting profits from ad revenue equally
  with publishers.
• Publishers are recommended to set up ads.txt to block
  unauthorized tech companies from hijacking their ad
  inventory.

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After recruiting publishers earlier this summer to test out a new
program that serves ads to their websites, Twitter has revealed
more information about its test to make money from embedded
strings of tweets on sites.

In May, Twitter
set up a cryptic landing page asking for publishers to sign
up for a program called Twitter Timeline Ads that promised media
companies the ability to “generate revenue for your site.” Now,
Twitter has updated the page with more details — including a
section of terms and conditions — explaining how it works.

“The Twitter Timeline Program is the first ad program that
allows publishers to offer real-time content to their audiences
and drive incremental revenue with targeted ads,” reads the
frequently asked questions page on Twitter’s website about
Twitter Timeline Ads.

Twitter declined to comment on the record for this story and did
not name publishers who have signed up for the program. A
spokeswoman stressed that the program is a small test.

Twitter is experimenting with making money outside of
Twitter

Publishers who embed streams of tweets on their sites — think
blogs or local news sites — can join the program and allow
Twitter to serve ads straight into the Timelines. Twitter will
split the ad revenue made from the program equally with
publishers, meaning that media companies will make 50% of revenue
from ads served to their sites, according to information on
the
page. After Business Insider reached out to Twitter, the
information about the breakdown in ad revenue was removed from
the page.

To date, Twitter has made most of its ad revenue from ads served
within its flagship website and app. Twitter already has a number
of revenue-share programs with publishers who sell ads that run
before videos that they post to the site.
Twitter keeps 30% of ad revenue from that program while
publishers keep 70%.

To compare,
Facebook Watch allows publishers to keep 55% of revenue while
Facebook keeps 45% of ads sold within videos. YouTube has

similar revenue-share policies for its creators.

Twitter is encouraging publishers to remove bad ads before it
begins serving its ads to them

Twitter plans to place ads in the top 20 tweets in a Timeline,
according to its info page. Specifically, ads will be slotted
between the first and second tweet, the seventh and eighth tweet,
the 13th and 14th tweet and between the 19th and 20th tweets.

Once a publisher is accepted to the program and begins running
ads, Twitter will give media companies a real-time dashboard
where they can track stats and revenue earned from the program.
Per Twitter, ads must be a minimum of 700 pixels high and 300
pixels wide to qualify for the program.

The company also recommends that publishers plug ads.txt code — the
initiative backed by the IAB Tech Lab that prevents unauthorized
tech vendors from selling ads on publishers’ sites — into their
sites before joining the Twitter Timeline Ads program. Ad-tech
company OpenX is mentioned on the site as an “authorized partner”
but Twitter declined to provide more information about how the
company is involved in the program. OpenX deferred to Twitter for
comment.

The move may be welcomed by publishers looking for new partners
that aren’t Facebook or Google

Facebook and Google have been jerking publishers around for years
and some publishers
have begun to view Twitter as a new friend — so Twitter might
have a way to win over publishers who feel burned by the duopoly.
Plus, publishers are constantly looking for ways to squeeze more
revenue out of their websites that are dominated by display ads.

As of February, Twitter said that it had streamed more than 1,100
live events and added 22 new live-streaming shows. During its
NewFronts presentation in April, Twitter
promised advertisers that it will crank out over
30 content deals this year with media companies like Viacom,
NBCUniversal and ESPN.

According to Twitter, revenues paid out to publishers increased
60% in 2017.