Twitter removes ads for MVPs in bid to drive engagement

Twitter is reducing the number of ads high-value users see in their feeds, or nixing them altogether, in a bid to keep the VIPs producing content, according to a Monday report.

The initiative kicked off in September and has gathered steam over the past few months, making Twitter a completely ad-free experience for some, according to Re/code. Twitter monetizes its service in part through promoted tweets, which for regular users show up in line with tweets from followed accounts.

Sources claim Twitter's decision is part of a strategy to keep high-value account holders engaged, the report said. Doing so not only keeps millions of existing casual users on the service, but might also attract new members. It is not clear what metrics define a "VIP," but sources told the publication that sheer follower count is only part of the equation. Tweet volume, reach and other metrics are also taken into account, the report said.

Twitter is in the throes of upper management upheaval under co-founder Jack Dorsey, who returned as permanent CEO last October following the departure of former chief Dick Costolo. As The New York Times reported on Sunday, four executives, including SVP of engineering Alex Roetter and SVP of product Kevin Weil, left the company over the weekend.

Aside from growth concerns and executive shake-ups, Twitter, like many tech companies, is dealing with workplace diversity issues. Last month, Apple's former director of worldwide inclusion and diversity Jeffrey Siminoff was hired away to fill an identical role at the social media firm.

13 Comments

tallest skil 43086 comments · 14 Years

About 8 years ago

Ooh, can we have a discussion on the changing face of communication and the psychological damage done thereto thanks to the vapidity of social networking? Anyway,

“keep the VIPs producing content”? Twitter actually makes money from people who look at celebrities’ “tweets”?

ireland 17435 comments · 18 Years

Twitter has lost the plot. Jobs should have met with Dorsey and acquired this company years ago. It would have stopped them ever wasting their time around Ping and Connect to. Just plug Twitter in that tab, all these musicians and bands already have Twitter accounts.

anantksundaram 20391 comments · 18 Years

ireland said:

Twitter has lost the plot. Jobs should have met with Dorsey and acquired this company years ago. It would have stopped them ever wasting their time around Ping and Connect to. Just plug Twitter in that tab, all these musicians and bands already have Twitter accounts.

Acquired it? For what? I am on Twitter (more than anything else for the challenge of fitting the bogus thoughts I have in 140 characters or less), but at the end of the day, it's a lot of trivial, self-indulgent crap.

As as an aside, this celebrity-no-ad thing a terrible way for them to market themselves: "the vast majority of you users are the great unwashed, and you have to view the ads we spew."

sergioz 338 comments · 12 Years

ha ha I guess I am the VIP then, no ads or tracking anywhere or wait it's probably because my phone is jailbroken!

Mr_Grey 118 comments · 8 Years

One of the few things worse than putting f*cking advertisements in everything, is perhaps the notion that some people are "more valuable" than others. The whole idea of MVP customers on a platform like Twitter is offensive and vile IMO. The original point of the service was democratization.

Twitter was so cool and so revolutionary when it began too. So sad. I agree with Ireland in that I've long thought that that moment when Apple wanted to buy it way back when and Twitter showed them the door was a huge mistake by all concerned.