Advertisers On Twitter Can Now Target Promoted Tweets To Fans Of Any TV Show

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Twitter launched a new tool that lets any advertiser target users who are posting about specific TV shows. Twitter is often used in-tandem with TV viewing, and the company has been aggressive in its attempts to monetize that type of activity. Twitter calls this new ad product "TV conversation targeting," and it is an expansion of an earlier ad product that allowed brands to extend their TV ad spots to Twitter by targeting users who Twitter determined had been exposed to their TV ads. Now, any advertiser can target show audiences.

What's more, a Nielsen study showed that Twitter can actually boost TV ratings when users discuss the show with their peers on the social network. Therefore, cable networks should really view Twitter as a complementary tool to their programming, and not a competitor stealing eyeballs away from TV.

For more on how Twitter is emerging as the primary app in the "second screen era," check out BI Intelligence's recent report on trends in the second screen market. (Twitter Blog)

In Other News ...

In other Twitter-related news, Statista put together a handy graphic using data from PeerReach that shows that just five countries make up 50% of Twitter's monthly active user population. (via Statista)

Foursquare has started selling ad space on the app's homescreen to large brands that don't have a bricks-and-mortar store. MasterCard will reportedly have the new ad space until December 20. Foursquare initially launched as a service that helped people discover local businesses and rewarded users who were loyal customers. However, now it seems the company is pulling away from its roots, in order to generate more revenue. (AdAge)

Vine added support for 19 new languages, indicating Twitter's ambition to make the popular video-sharing app a global phenomenon. (TechCrunch)

Some Facebook users have spotted page post link ads (a type of News Feed ad) that are missing the signature like and comment functionality. Facebook could be rolling out these simplified ads to all users in the future. (All Facebook)

eMarketer has amended its market forecast for sponsored content advertising to account for faster-than-expected growth. (AdAge)