Political Ads Start Showing Up On Twitter

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Twitter has begun to use advertising as a form of revenue (since last year) and is seeking to expand into the realm of politics. It’s doing this by beginning a pilot program offering a half dozen politicians and national party committees the chance to get the word out on Twitter.

The political advertising will work in several ways. First, a promoted message (in the form of a post) will show in the timelines of those who are following campaigns. Next, these messages may also pop up when certain search terms are searched for. Finally, the candidates can pay for their Twitter accounts to show up in users’ suggested accounts to follow.

The promoted tweets will be marked with a purple box and a message so Twitter users will know it’s a paid post. Mitt Romney is one of the first Republican candidates to test out the new ad format. Twitter’s president of global revenue Adam Bain had this to say: “Launching political advertising is an important step forward in that effort, making it easier for people to connect with the candidates and issues they care about.”

Online advertising is not new to anyone, even amongst political personalities. Twitter is just another medium to help candidates get I contact with their voters.