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Tech Report: Twitter Expands The Number Of Ads Shown To Users

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS/AP) –If you're on Twitter, expect to see more ads flowing through your stream of tweets in the next few months.

KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid said that the ads will show up even if the promotion is from a company that a person hasn't chosen to follow. Until now, Twitter had only displayed ads that users were tracking.

"You used to get to kind of pick and choose the companies that you wanted to hear from on Twitter, but now you're going to get ads from companies that you don't follow," said Magid.

As has been the case since Twitter began showing ads last year, the promotions must comply with the online messaging service's 140-character limit.

KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid Comments:

The ad expansion marks a major step in Twitter's attempt to make more money from its more than 100 million active users. Twitter says the audience is now sending about 230 million tweets a day.

"I think that some people are going to be upset by the change," said Magid. "But on the other hand, somebody has to pay the bills, and if you don't like it then you don't have to use Twitter. It is a free service, and one way or another they have to figure out how to monetize it."

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo told reporters that the 5-year-old company still hasn't set a timetable to go public.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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