Twitter just revealed more information about its plan to help publishers make money by displaying ads on their websites

Jack Dorsey, Twitter

New details have emerged about Twitter’s test with serving ads within Twitter Timelines that publishers embed into their websites.
Twitter is splitting profits from ad revenue equally with publishers.
Publishers are recommended to set up ads.txt to block unauthorized tech companies from hijacking their ad inventory.

After recruiting publishers earlier this summer to test out a new program that serves ads to their websites, Twitter has revealed more information about its test to make money from embedded strings of tweets on sites.

In May, Twitter set up a cryptic landing page asking for publishers to sign up for a program called Twitter Timeline Ads that promised media companies the ability to "generate revenue for your site." Now, Twitter has updated the page with more details — including a section of terms and conditions — explaining how it works.

"The Twitter Timeline Program is the first ad program that allows publishers to offer real-time content to their audiences and drive incremental revenue with targeted ads," reads the frequently asked questions page on Twitter’s website about Twitter Timeline Ads.

Twitter declined to comment on the record for this story and did not name publishers who have signed up for the program. A spokeswoman stressed that the program is a small test.

Twitter is experimenting with making money outside of Twitter

Publishers who embed streams of tweets on their sites — think blogs or local news sites — can join the program and allow Twitter to serve ads straight into the Timelines. Twitter will split the ad revenue made from the program equally with publishers, meaning that media companies will make 50% of revenue from ads served to their sites, according to information on the page. After Business Insider reached out to Twitter, the information about the breakdown in ad revenue was removed from the page.

To date, Twitter has made most of its ad revenue from ads served within its flagship website and app. Twitter already has a number of revenue-share programs with publishers who sell ads that run before videos that they post to the site. Twitter keeps 30% of ad revenue from that program while publishers keep 70%.

To compare, Facebook Watch allows publishers to keep 55% of revenue while Facebook keeps 45% of ads sold within videos. YouTube has similar revenue-share policies for its creators.

Twitter is encouraging publishers to remove bad ads before it begins serving its ads to them

Twitter plans to place ads in the top 20 tweets in a Timeline, according to its info page. Specifically, ads will be slotted between the first and second tweet, the seventh and eighth tweet, the 13th and 14th tweet and between the 19th and 20th tweets.

Once a publisher is accepted to the program and begins running ads, Twitter will give media companies a real-time dashboard where they can track stats and revenue earned from the program. Per Twitter, ads must be a minimum of 700 pixels high and 300 pixels wide to qualify for the program.

The company also recommends that publishers plug ads.txt code — the initiative backed by the IAB Tech Lab that prevents unauthorized tech vendors from selling ads on publishers' sites — into their sites before joining the Twitter Timeline Ads program. Ad-tech company OpenX is mentioned on the site as an "authorized partner" but Twitter declined to provide more information about how the company is involved in the program. OpenX deferred to Twitter for comment.

The move may be welcomed by publishers looking for new partners that aren't Facebook or Google

Facebook and Google have been jerking publishers around for years and some publishers have begun to view Twitter as a new friend — so Twitter might have a way to win over publishers who feel burned by the duopoly. Plus, publishers are constantly looking for ways to squeeze more revenue out of their websites that are dominated by display ads.

As of February, Twitter said that it had streamed more than 1,100 live events and added 22 new live-streaming shows. During its NewFronts presentation in April, Twitter promised advertisers that it will crank out over 30 content deals this year with media companies like Viacom, NBCUniversal and ESPN.

According to Twitter, revenues paid out to publishers increased 60% in 2017.

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