As predicted by many, micro blogging phenomenon Twitter has amended its current terms of service to open the door for the future possibility of advertising within the site.
Sending an email to all twitter account holders asking them to review the new terms of service, co-founder Biz Stone explained on the official blog that the changes were to allow any future advisement features possible. “The services may include advertisements, which may be targeted to the content or information on the services, queries made through the services, or other information,” explained the new terms. “The types and extent of advertising by Twitter on the services are subject to change. In consideration for Twitter granting you access to and use of the services, you agree that Twitter and its third-party providers and partners may place such advertising on the services….”
He also added that “We leave the door open for advertising. We’d like to keep our options open, as we’ve said before.”
It is predicted that adverts, if they do eventually appear, will do so alongside search terms and on Twitter user’s home pages. Though some have also expressed that advertising could be allowed within the Twitter feed itself, they acknowledge that this could prove a bad move, with a backlash from consumers.
In addition to the change, Mr Stone also revealed that paid accounts were something that was likely to materialise in the future. Business’s looking to create a web presence on the site, many of whom already use it extensively for customer relations, could purchase the feature to add advertising and branding to their homepages.
