Twitter wants to put ads into your replies and it's as bad as it sounds

Twitter (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

Twitter is testing putting ads into your conversations.
Ads will be inserted after the first, third, and eighth replies.

Twitter is testing putting ads directly into conversations — with ads appearing after the first, third, and eighth reply.

Revenue Product Lead Bruce Falck made the announcement via a thread on Twitter, saying that the move will be rolling out to iOS and Android devices globally. It appears the ads will be personalized to the topic being discussed, with Twitter believing that the ads will add value to the conversation rather than detracting from it.

Starting today, we’re trying something different and testing a new ad format in Tweet conversations. If you’re a part of this test (which is global; on iOS & Android only), you’ll see ads after the first, third or eighth reply under a Tweet. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/kvIGeYt2vpStarting today, we’re trying something different and testing a new ad format in Tweet conversations. If you’re a part of this test (which is global; on iOS & Android only), you’ll see ads after the first, third or eighth reply under a Tweet. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/kvIGeYt2vp— bruce.falck() 🦗 (@boo) October 13, 2021 October 13, 2021

Falck went on to say that things are still being tested and that we should expect layouts and other aspects of the test to change over the next few months.

We'll test different frequencies, layouts, contextually relevant ads, different insertion points, etc. And we'll examine our learnings and figure out if it's something we want to make permanent

Further tweets explained exactly why the move is being made, with Falck saying that Twitter is "excited about trying this out for our advertisers," going on to say that the company is "eager to explore how it could open the door for additional opportunities to reward Tweet authors and creators."

Predictably, the response to the move hasn't been positive, at least among users. It's likely ad buyers will be keener to see the test succeed, however.

One advantage of using a third-party Twitter app is that you won't see things like this, however. Looking to branch out beyond the official Twitter app? These are some of the best iPhone Twitter apps right now.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.