Twitter looks to spread its wings in advertising

Twitter is attempting to position itself as a central player in a media and marketing landscape increasingly dominated by social media, technology and data.

The company has spent the past year snapping up a series of advertising technology companies and brokering partnerships with media and advertising groups. The goal: to define Twitter not as a competitor to traditional media but rather a link to the new world of advertising.
"Twitter is a bridge, not an island. It is a bridge to things that appear on many screens," Adam Bain, Twitter's president of global revenue, said during an advertising event in New York in May.
At the core of its pitch is the notion that not only is Twitter in a prime place for delivering ads, but also to provide valuable insights for broader marketing campaigns.
Twitter's largest acquisition to date came last week, with the purchase of mobile ad tech firm MoPub for an estimated $300m to $400m. MoPub helps marketers target mobile ads across a large network of sites in real time.
Twitter has also acquired analytics firms Bluefin Labs and Trendrr, and struck partnerships with television networks, magazine publishers and music groups. Partnerships with the advertising industry include a deal with Mondelez, the maker of Oreo cookies and Trident chewing gum, and a broader advertising partnership with Starcom MediaVest Group, part of Publicis, worth hundreds of millions of dollars over several years.
Twitter is expected to generate USD 582.8 million in global ad revenue this year, according to eMarketer, up from USD 288 million last year.

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