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Twitter Thinking Big About Commerce

  • Fortune, Wednesday, July 20, 2011 12:40 PM
Like many a Web publisher and platform, Twitter is now reportedly eyeing commerce as a way to its millions of users in billions in revenue. "After discussing its various advertising options -- including its plans to eventually offer self-serve ads -- [Twitter CEO Dick Costolo] mentioned how conference organizers and sports teams had used Twitter to find buyers for unsold inventory," Fortune reports.

In one instance, the San Diego Chargers quickly sold around 1,000 tickets to a game that otherwise would have been blacked out on local television. Twitter didn't make any money on those transactions, but according to Costolo, may look to do so in the future. "There's a commerce opportunity there for us to take advantage of if we want," Costolo said. The issue, he added, is "how can we remove friction from the process?"

Costolo declined to explain exactly how Twitter might address the friction issue, or whether the company is currently pursuing any related projects. He did, however, suggest that the Chargers could have sold their tickets even more efficiently if buyers were not forced to visit an entirely different Web site to make their purchase.

Read the whole story at Fortune »

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