Twitter to launch 30-sec skippable ads on Twitter

Digiday is reporting that Twitter is now offering 30-second skippable pre-roll ads, on ... Twitter. It's a huge leap from the former 6 second standard they had before, to now offer 15 and 30 second pre-roll ad space.

Since most advertisers create both 15 and 30 second ads, this opens up for a lot more potential ad buyers. 6-second ads are rare. The viewer can skip the ad, much like you can on youtube, but any 3-second 'watch' counts as a view, like on Facebook - leaving the ad buyer to pay for ads that aren't actually seen.

The ads will be sen on Amplify program partners streams, and the Amplify program enables the content creators to share in the revenue. Some current partners are Buzzfeed, Fox Sports, Fullscreen, Techcrunch and VOX. Twitter takes 30% and gives 70% to the creators.

“Twitter is trying to build its ad network that lets brands throw videos in front of premium content,” said Jason Stein, CEO of Laundry Service to Digiday. “They accepted the idea of disrupting the user experience to help publishers monetize and help advertisers reach more people.”

While all of this point to Twitter attempting to become more a long-content platform, the stock has been dropping like a lead ballon for the past few weeks. A small uptick can be seen today.