Associated Press selling ads in 1.5 million-follower Twitter feed

by Andrew Moran (Digital Journalist)

The Associated Press will become the latest news organization to begin selling ads in its 1.5 million-follower main Twitter feed, the company announced. Samsung will be the first company to issue sponsored tweets.

One of the latest forms of advertising, an expansion into mobile and social media advertising, started on Jan. 7 and will end Jan. 11. It will appear twice a day this week and coincide with the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The tweets will begin with “SPONSORED TWEET” and the content will then be provided by the company, in this case Samsung, and handled by individuals that are not affiliated with the wire service newsroom.

“We are thrilled to be taking this next step in social media,” said Lou Ferrara, the AP managing editor overseeing the newsroom social media efforts, in a press release. “As an industry, we must be looking for new ways to develop revenues while providing good experiences for advertisers and consumers. At the same time, advertisers and audiences expect AP to do that without compromising its core mission of breaking news.”

The first tweet was sent Monday afternoon: “SPONSORED TWEET: Stay up to date on what’s trending live from CES 2013 at bit.ly/V4uqA0 #SamsungCES.”

Other outlets have done this before, such as Slate, which sold sponsored tweets to Samsung, and various local news outlets. 

Individuals are also cashing in on Twitter advertising, including rapper Snoop Dogg, actress Tori Spelling, star Khloe Kardashian and actor Charlie Sheen.

In 2010, Twitter prohibited third-party insertions of ads into third-party Twitter applications, but sponsored tweets are permitted because they are manually posted and approved, not automated.

It may end, though, as the company has offered “Promoted Tweets” and several other advertising products.

This article originally appeared on Digital Journal [Link]