Twitter announced a limited beta test of native video ads Wednesday at the Twitter Flight developer conference in San Francisco.
Developers will have access to more than 170 buyers on the MoPub digital advertising marketplace as well as support for direct ad partners. The company has not yet announced the beta testers who can use video ads similar to those found in Twitter's timeline.
Twitter's video product has become a powerful force. The company said earlier this month that video views have increased by 150 times in the past year, with mobile devices accounting for 90 percent of those views. A study by Nielsen earlier this year found that purchase intent was 28 percent higher for people who chose to watch a Twitter video ad than those who saw the same video as a preroll or midroll ad during a 22-minute program.
Kate Herbert, senior director of the MoPub platform and exchange services, announced the external native video ads and provided a preview of the experience:
Our native video solution empowers any developer to monetize with native video ads just like those on Twitter https://t.co/ywy3aqYyM4
— Twitter Flight (@Flight) October 21, 2015
Twitter also announced a polling feature that Jeff Seibert, senior director of Twitter's developer platform, said should knock out the less-than-perfect "favorite" or "retweet" method of polling currently available.
The new feature, which can be used on mobile or desktop, makes it easy for users to create a two-option poll. Viewers can vote and see results in real time.
"For poll creators, it's a new way to engage with Twitter's massive audience and understand exactly what people think," wrote product manager Todd Sherman in a blog post. "For those participating, it's a very easy way to make your voice heard."
Coming soon! We're rolling out the ability for everyone to create polls on Twitter: https://t.co/pH5a8q9Ujz pic.twitter.com/ijAKEMUdf1
— Twitter (@twitter) October 21, 2015
