Twitter to use members’ data to target ads

The social networking site said it will be “experimenting with a way to make adverts on Twitter more useful” with promoted content from brands and businesses a user has shown interest in.

Via its blog, the company –which allows people to send public messages of up to 140 characters – said: “Users won’t see more ads on Twitter, but they may see better ones.”

It said the move – which technology experts say will bring Twitter in line with other social networking sites – will be go on trial in the US “soon”.

Twitter will give advertisers access to the individual user’s account information, which they can use to match up with other data they will have on users – although personal email addresses will be unreadable, it said. It will not receive browser-related information from its partners for tailoring adverts if users have DNT (Do Not Track) technology enabled.