Twitter is rolling out an experimental Twitter Ads button for its iOS and Android apps, and users are naturally taking to the microblogging platform to voice their displeasure over the new button they don't find a use for.
The new Twitter Ads button is found sitting prominently on the user's profile page. It is located to the right of the Settings icon and just before the account switcher and Edit Profile button.
The Twitter Ads button is not for the majority of Twitter users. Instead, it is for advertisers who want to manage their ad campaigns on Twitter. However, not everyone on Twitter has ad campaigns to manage, which is why many users are complaining over the addition of a shiny, new button they will not really use, calling it an "ugly" and "desperate" attempt to make money on the platform.
@vicksldn it's little things. Like when you're typing a tweet, and on your profile page, there's some zigzag button there for Twitter ads
— Hewadabla (@SiMoan_) July 1, 2015
@OfficialDready also they've desperately placed a twitter ads button in the bio area.
The move is reminiscent of Facebook’s release of its own dedicated Ads Manager app that lets advertisers manage their Facebook ads straight from their mobile phones. However, there are several differences between Twitter’s new button and Facebook’s new app.
For one thing, Facebook has decided to create a standalone app itself so that users who don’t need to manage Facebook ads won’t be bothered with a feature they think is useless. Twitter’s approach, on the other hand, involves baking the feature straight into the user platform, and it runs the risk of annoying users who don’t want to see the button on their profile pages.
Also, Facebook’s app lets advertisers not only manage their ads but also create new ads straight from the app itself. Meanwhile, Twitter users who might suddenly think of launching an ad campaign will not even be able to do it on mobile.
While the differences may seem massive, it is important to note that Facebook has an ad network that is big enough to call for the creation of its own ad management app. Twitter, on the other hand, may not yet have the need for nothing more than a button, but if it will not let users create ads right from the app, it is going to remain a pointless feature for most.
Of course, the experimental new feature is one of the many ways Twitter hopes to please its investors, who have long been questioning how Twitter plans to monetize its popular platform. Last month, Twitter placed the Twitter Ads button in the Settings option right above Lists, Drafts and Help, already earning the ire of the few users who noticed it.
