Ad.ly Launches Self Serve Platform For Advertisers To Push Sponsored Tweets

The idea of ad-sponsored Tweets has been the subject of some controversy. Some say advertisements within a Twitter user's stream could distort the user's authority. The idea that a Twitter users (and advertisers) would be monetizing their followers is questionable and has raised some interesting discussions. Ad.ly, which launched last year, aims to link up advertisers with Twitter users and then distribute links to marketing campaigns through the user’s tweet streams with full disclosure. Today, the advertising platform is officially launching its self-service platform for advertisers and revealing a few interesting stats about the ad service.

Ad.ly’s platform is designed to be self-service for both Twitter users and the advertisers. So for example, an advertiser for Dell could choose which Twitter power-user to pitch their ad too and then submit a bid to a particular user. The publisher then approves or denies the request. Once the publisher approves the Tweet, the message is sent out via their account by Ad.ly. You can find examples of Ad.ly Tweets here, here and here. Each campaign requires the publisher to send out four Tweets over the course of a week and each Tweet identifies Ad.ly and links to an ad campaign for a brand. Of course, publishers are paid and advertisers get their reach. Until now, however, the platform has not been fully open for all advertisers.