Microblogging site Twitter is rolling out its new service which will help sell native advertisements on mobile apps.
The native ad product for mobile apps had been undergoing testing with a limited number of publishers since Twitter’s $350m acquisition of MoPub in December.
Native ads are basically adverts that seamlessly blend into the content around them and are considered far superior from the marketing point of view, while at the same time appearing less intrusive to customers.
With MoPub, marketers can add text and graphics, and ad publishers can display them in a format that blends, making them seem like a part of the app.
The new ad platform consists of an SDK to create a customisable ad unit, an ad server for recording ad campaigns, and a native ad extension to OpenRTB, allowing other publishers to bid on the creator’s native mobile ad units.
Twitter’s VP of Product and Revenue Kevin Well, wrote in a blog post, "Not only are native ads a significant improvement for publisher monetization in general, but users engage with these ad formats at a higher rate than the desktop-era banners and interstitials which are so prevalent in mobile apps today."
"Because of this, monetization through native ads can deliver a considerably better experience for users and also a better ROI for marketers."
MoPub claims to offer a complete integrated experience with several attractive features such as price floors, block lists, and device, location, and keyword targeting.
Twitter is already a fan of native ads with its promoted tweets. The new service launch is an attempt by the site to broaden its scope of advertising.
Competition for advertising on mobile apps is becoming intense. Facebook has been testing a mobile-ad network of its own while Google recently unveiled ways for developers to drive app downloads, days after Twitter announced a similar offering.
