also known as publishers, with top-tier advertisers allowing for the
publisher to make money from ads sent through their Twitter feed.
Ad.ly works when a publisher signs up for the Ad.ly platform and
advertisers send them an offer to run four pre-approved, distinctly
marked tweets through their stream over the course of seven days.
Each publisher simply sets a price that they'd like to be compensated
for the ad, then they get the offer from the advertiser and approve
whether or not they want to work with that advertiser. Once the
publisher has approved the offer, the tweets are automatically sent
over the next seven days.
Each user can opt to donate their earnings to a charity of their
choice or keep the monies for themselves. Currently celebrity Ad.ly
users are using this opportunity to spread the word of their favorite
charities, while raising money through their Twitter accounts to
donate to these organizations. DJ Samantha Ronson chooses to donate
her money to Music Rising, which raises funds to provide instruments
to those affected by Hurricane Katrina, while "Heroes" star Greg
Grunberg shares his money with Talk About It, a charity aimed at
raising awareness for Epilepsy.
"Ad.ly is bridging the gap between advertisers and Twitter users and
although we feel that each user should be paid for the content that
they are producing on Twitter, we also feel that it is important for
these publishers to be able to give back to a charity of their
choice." said Sean Rad, founder and CEO of Ad.ly, "We know that not
everyone can afford to donate to the charity organizations that they
are most passionate about, so we have found a way to allow them to
combine their enjoyment of Twitter with the love of their favorite
cause."
Ad.ly was developed on the basis of allowing Twitter publishers to
monetize their Twitter accounts through advertising. The founders
consider each publisher as an influencer in their own right and feel
that they should be compensated for their time and effort when using
Twitter. Currently advertisers such as Nestle, Microsoft, NBC,
Universal and Sony are using the Ad.ly platform to connect with their
target demographic.
Ad.ly is a privately held company that has recently raised a round of
financing from GRP Partners, who have invested in companies like
Overture, Bill Me Later, DealerTrack, Costco and Starbucks. For more
information on Ad.ly visit www.ad.ly.
