InformationWeek reports that Twitter has moved to block third-party advertising on its site. Twitter chief operating officer Dick Costolo said in the company blog on Tuesday that the third-party advertising ban was intended to protect the “core experience of real-time introductions and information” that has been critical to Twitter’s success. However, there is a significant caveat: the ban will not apply to Promoted Tweets – Twitter’s own paid advertising service.
Despite the seeming double standard in the decision, Costolo defended the move and explained that Twitters feels there is a significant difference between how third party advertising and Twitter-approved advertising impacts the user experience:
“Why are we prohibiting these kinds of ads? First, third party ad networks are not necessarily looking to preserve the unique user experience Twitter has created,” Costolo wrote. “They may optimize for either market share or short-term revenue at the expense of the long-term health of the Twitter platform. For example, a third party ad network may seek to maximize ad impressions and click through rates even if it leads to a net decrease in Twitter use due to user dissatisfaction.”