New homepage planned for Twitter, getting real about ads?

28 Jul 2009

It is understood that social-networking big bird Twitter will this week unveil a new homepage that will emphasise search and Twitter trends. It may also be seen as a belated attempt to potentially capture revenue from online advertising.

According to the influential Wall Street Journal‘s All Things Digital blog, Twitter will revamp its home page with a number of features and tools that will deepen the users’ interaction with the Twitter site.

An interview between WSJ tech writer Kara Swisher and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone revealed that the new main homepage will feature a search box, information on Twitter trends and a “panopoly” of more specific information about how to use Twitter better.

The move could be a reaction by Twitter to the growing number of tools that take users off-site to better use and manage their multiple Twitter feeds, such as TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop.

It may also be an indication that by attempting to keep users glued to its main pages, Twitter may finally be getting serious about advertising revenue, which would be pretty hard to capture if users aren’t on site but getting the same information elsewhere.

The plot thickens. Tweet tweet.

By John Kennedy

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com