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Twitter plans to make money off 500 million logged-out visitors

twitter ads logged out users log in screen
Twitter is looking into monetizing the 500-million monthly users who view the site without ever logging in. Image used with permission by copyright holder
There have been questions and concerns surrounding Twitter’s potential to grow and earn revenue as far back as its launch in 2006. Still, Twitter forges on, claiming an enormous 320 million monthly active users who produce and share 140-character tweets that reach 1 billion people monthly. According to Re/code, however, 500 million people view and consume Twitter content every month without ever logging into an account, resulting in the platform’s newest plan to attempt to make money off people who don’t log in.

Currently, the millions of visitors who access Twitter’s news, events, and entertainment updates through its homepage, as well as those who might access tweets through Google search, are among Twitter’s biggest missed revenue opportunities. While these visitors have been considered a potential revenue stream in the past, it was only established as a serious plan that’s worthy of testing out during the company’s recent earnings call.

COO and revenue chief Adam Bain said, “We also are monetizing logged-out users across the network …This is the first time that we’ve been doing that. It’s going to come in handy as we also begin to run a pilot here in Q4 for on-Twitter logged out monetization.” If you are one of the million Twitter visitors accessing content, you could soon notice advertisements and promoted tweets, even if you don’t log into Twitter or even have a Twitter account.

This new plan for Twitter monetization follows an exhausting list of changes, ranging from new features (Twitter Moments, Polls, new ad and “buy” buttons) to Jack Dorsey returning as CEO and the company’s restructuring plan designed to cut costs. As one of the most popular social media platforms on the Internet, it is hopeful that the new changes assist in increasing not only its active users, but its revenue as well.

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Christina Majaski
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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