Twitter has been trying a variety of methods to revive its fortunes lately. In addition to adding several new features, a report from Re/Code claims that it has greatly reduced the number of ads it pushes to its most prominent members, and in some cases it has stopped showing ads to them altogether.
Re/Code's sources say that the move is a way of encouraging Twitter's most active users to increase the number of tweets they post, which in turn will, hopefully, entice more users to sign up to the service.
Being a celebrity doesn't guarantee that you'll be selected as part of the no-ad or low-ad group, though. The company picks people using a variety of criteria, including the volume and reach of their tweets. Although being famous will no doubt help your chances.
Twitter makes the vast majority of its money from ads; the company is thought to have generated around $2.2 billion in revenue in 2015, and almost all that came from advertising. But the microblogging site knows it can afford to turn ads off for a very small percentage of users if it helps attract some much-needed new signups and keep current members sticking around.
Re/Code asked Twitter if an ad-free option would ever be available to 'regular' users, one that was supported by subscriptions. "We're constantly looking at constraints and adjustments to optimize which ads are shown and how often," said a Twitter rep.
It was reported yesterday that five Twitter executives had left the company, including Vine GM Jason Toff who moved to Google. With its stock still hovering around the $17 mark, it seems that CEO Jack Dorsey is trying everything to get more people to sign up to the site.
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