Twitter is planning to launch 15 new types of ad products, including in-stream downloads for mobile games and click-to-call buttons for local businesses, according to a news report.
The Wall Street Journal cites ‘people familiar with the company’s plans’ as saying that several of the new ad units are set to launch this month.
For the past few years, Twitter has limited its ad products to promoted tweets and accounts, so this roll out marks a major ad push for the newly listed social network.
One new ad unit listed by the paper lets brands embed an invite to install an app through a special Twitter Card, inviting users to click an “Install Now” button at the end of an app ad.
Using the card lets the user expand or minimize the ad unit, essentially allowing brands to advertise from within the platform without actually breaking format.
Rival Facebook’s app install ads have been a success for the company, driving “real revenue” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Circa co-founder Matt Galligan spotted an ad with an install button on the Twitter app for the iPad:
SPOTTED: App-Install ads now on @Twitter – Just got my 1st one today $TWTR cc: @TwitterAds pic.twitter.com/88MbECD3jG
— Rich Greenfield (@RichBTIG) April 4, 2014
Twitter’s advertising balancing act
Twitter’s ad revenue doubled during Q4 of last year, up to $219.6 million compared to the year prior. But while its ad revenue has risen the average ad rate for the social network fell by a massive 67% during 2013, according to its latest financial report.
Twitter says that rates have been falling because its inventory—the supply of available space to advertise on Twitter—is increasing. It also says that lower rates appeal to small businesses and international advertisers. However, the drop in prices suggest that the newly listed company is struggling to find a stable price that’s attractive to clients, and it could keep falling.
In a statement, Twitter said: “The decreases in cost per ad engagement over these periods were primarily driven by higher ad engagements as a result of continued improvements made to our ad products and our prediction and targeting capabilities.
“We believe that, in order to increase the cost per ad engagement, we will need to increase advertiser demand for our Promoted Products by enhancing the value of such products.”