Twitter Now Makes Over Half its Revenue From Video Ads: Q1 Report
Twitter announced its Q1 2018 earnings yesterday, and for once the little blue bird is flying high. It generated $575 million in advertising revenue during the quarter and, in a surprise, announced that over half that came from video ads.
The company makes money from in-stream pre-roll and mid-roll ads, as well as FirstView, Video Website Cards, and Video App Cards. Video was the company's fastest growing ad format in Q1. In a letter to shareholders, the company said value for advertisers increased in Q1 thanks to better ad engagement, more attractive product features, and improved ad relevance. Click-through rates (CTR) were up thanks to more engaging video offerings such as Video Website Cards and Video App Cards.
Half of the company's ad revenue ($288 million) came from the U.S., while half ($287 million) came from other countries. That $575 million figure showed a 21 percent growth from the year before. However, international sales were really booming, up 52 percent from the year before.
Total revenue for the quarter was $665 million, which was also a 21 percent increase from Q1 2017. That figure was almost evenly split between U.S. and international markets.
Going forward, Twitter plans to do more to tap demand for online video ads and introduce new ways of buying ads on the platform.
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