Twitter is one of the biggest names in social networking out there. It’s why businesses buy Twitter followers after all; the more people that are following their accounts and updates, the more people they can advertise to. After the recent news revealed by Twitter Senior Director of Product Revenue Kevin Weil though, it will no longer be necessary for any business to buy Twitter followers. Instead, a business can just buy targeted advertising which will show up all over Twitter!

What’s Going On?

Twitter has been experimenting with advertising possibilities for years now. As far back as the year 2010, Twitter announced that it was going to start showing ads to all of its users. It wasn’t until March 2012 that select businesses were invited to participate in a new Twitter program that allowed them to purchase advertising that could be used as part of a huge campaign across the site. Most recently, in 2013, Twitter has announced that promotion is open to all businesses that want to participate. What’s more, ads can now be targeted based on the keywords used in tweets, which helps ensure that only interested parties will see the ads in question.

What That All Means

Twitter is, more or less, following in the digital footsteps of Google Search Ads. They are offering businesses the ability not only to rent ad space, but to gear those ads toward certain keywords that will focus the audience and make it more likely that the ads will reach people who are interested. It’s the same way that ads displayed by search engines are selected based on the keywords used in the search the user just conducted. So for companies that want one more way to advertise their products and services, and who want to gain additional Twitter followers in the process, it’s soon going to be easier than ever before.

Fair and Open?

Twitter has been very open about how enthusiastic it is that businesses can now leverage the full might of the social network to help promote themselves and their products. There have even been some grander, sweeping statements that say the direct advertising option could be the difference between successfully growing a Twitter following and fading into the background forever. However, the new attitude towards advertising makes one wonder if Twitter will become one more place dominated by bigger corporations that push out smaller businesses looking to get a handle on growing their own following. After all, if one can’t afford to beat out bigger competitors then it’s entirely possible that Twitter ad campaigns might not get off the ground. If they do though, then they’ll still have to compete with the sheer amount of big money.