Twitter to introduce search ads this year...

(full article www.brandrepublic.com)

Twitter is working on a plan to charge for text ads placed in search results, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD blog posts a launch date during the first half of this year, although its sources indicate the finer details of the service are still to be worked out.

According to the blog, ads will be relevant to searches and will use the 140-character format. Twitter will share revenue with third party services that take up the option of displaying the ads.

"Twitter will work with ad agencies and buyers to seed the program, but plans on moving to a self-serve model like Google's, down the road," the blog adds.

The news of Twitter's move comes after it passed the landmark figure of 50 million tweets being sent each day and after Google's bid to extend its ad service by approaching brands to run personalised ads around Buzz, the social network it has launched to rival Twitter and Facebook.