Twitter confirms deal with Google to show tweets in search results

We reported last night that Google and Twitter had reportedly struck a deal to show tweets in search results, and now it looks to be official. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo made the announcement today during the company's Q4 2014 earnings call.

From TechCrunch:

The Google search deal will essentially be used for "onboarding," Costolo said. If a "logged out" user sees a Tweet in a Google search and then clicks on it, that person will be delivered to a special "logged out" page, which will likely not only give them an option to sign up, but also deliver them an ad or two.

While details, such as a potential launch date, are light, the deal could eventually be quite the boon for Twitter as it looks for new ways to monetize its platform. Tweets in Google searches could potentially open the social network up to tons of new users and, in-turn, ad revenue.

Source: TechCrunch

Twitter has a new advertising channel: your following list

No matter your school of thought on how you use Twitter, the list of people you follow now includes advertising. The first customer: MasterCard. On the web, and in the official Twitter apps for iPhone and Android, you'll find that you, and everybody else, have MasterCard as a promoted entry in your Following list.

Now, this doesn't mean that you're actually following MasterCard — they have just 388,000 followers and not the quarter-million user base of Twitter. It just means that MasterCard has managed to get an ad inserted in every following list tempting you to follow them back (at least on the iOS and web interfaces it's clear that you're not actually following them, the Android app shows the same checkmark button for accounts you're actually following and the MasterCard promotional listing). The left-to-fallow official Twitter apps for BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone, however, aren't showing the sponsored listing, nor are third-party Twitter clients.

While for most of us that's not the worst thing in the world — you're not actually seeing all of MasterCard's tweets, it is an interesting concept for advertising, especially if you're the type that looks at the list of whom somebody else is following. MasterCard is there. Everywhere you look on Twitter's following lists, you'll find MasterCard. Even for Visa and American Express. We're sure they're utterlythrilled about that.

For public figures and companies that can create an interesting conundrum. Many are cognizant of what accounts they follow. As, of all people, William Shatner noted:

Some of suggested blocking the offending account, and it's true that it will remove MasterCard from the sponsored slot in your following list. Problem is, it's simply replaced by another entry like IFC.com.

So yes, your Following list and every Following list you see now contains ads masquerading as follows. You're not actually following them, and Twitter isn't explicitly saying that you are, but MasterCard is there, holding down a spot in your top ten most recent follows.

Via: Marketing Land

It's not just you: Twitter's all jacked up tonight

If Twitter suddenly logged you out of your mobile apps and won't let you back in — or a device or a desktop, actually — you're not alone. In fact, you're in damned good company. We're locked out, too.

Question is if any of us remembers how to communicate with each other with more than 140 characters. I have a hunch we'll be OK.

For more, check back with Twitter's status page, which should update sometime long after everything is fixed, if history repeats.