iTweet and 140 Proof

Setting up this application for future growth.

My pet project iTweet.net has been a great success for me.  It gets plenty of traffic, enjoys a steadily growing community of users, and is a lot of fun to work on.  The list of things I'd like to explore with this project grows every week, and with all the new additions to the Twitter API of late - OAuth, RTs, Lists, Geolocation etc - there is much more to be done in order to keep up.

The steady increase in traffic means that we've had to spend extra time and money on iTweet's server in order to keep up with all the users.  Hosting has graciously been sponsored by The Illusion Factory, but the monthly demand keeps increasing and it's clear that something needs to change.  The growing nature of both the to-do list and the server cost has led me to think of ways in which iTweet can become self-sustaining.  This app needs to start earning its keep, peoples!  One thing that I've decided to try is the insertion of sponsored tweets by 140 Proof.



This company has a very unique system of advertising delivery, promising very targeted content in an unobtrusive format.  How does that work?  140 Proof's system scans your (publicly available) tweets and delivers you an ad tailored to your location and/or favorite topics.   This means that you'll see content that is interesting and relevant to you.  And the ads come in tweet format so they fit right in with the flow of the app.  Most of them are real tweets, from a real Twitter account, and behave pretty much like the other tweets in your stream - you can reply, favorite or retweet them too.  (I'm giving these sponsored tweets a slightly different style so you can tell them from regular tweets.)



Since a lot of people have asked me what my plans for future development are, here's a nutshell version:

iTweet.net has no database behind it.  It doesn't store any of your information, and only uses data from the Twitter (and TwitPic, bit.ly, etc) APIs.  In order to do some more "interesting" stuff, such as multiple accounts, decent Lists and follower management, autocompleter, etc, I need to put a database behind the front end and rewrite a whole bunch of stuff.  This will let me do a lot more *interesting* things with the app, as it currently operates within the exact constraints of the API.

My immediate goals for iTweet are this:
  1. Switch to OAuth - this will eliminate API limit hassles
  2. Database-driven back end
  3. Support for new APIs - RT, geolocation etc.
  4. Support for multiple accounts, other oft-requested features
  5. Support for internationalization (multiple languages)
Once these major issues are tackled, I'll be looking at expanding iTweet's feature set into a new app, something larger that I have been imagining for some time now.  My hope is that by exploring monetization routes for the app, I'll be able to fund part of this development.



Cheers, and thanks for helping to make my little project take off.  As always the user community will directly influence the direction of future development.  Please let me know your thoughts below or by contacting me directly - I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.

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Posted on March 13, 2010, 12:14 a.m. Tags: advertising itweet

Comments

  • Interesting way to monetize coby!! Itweet has been my preffered choice of using twitter from web and will continue to do so.the clear demarcation of sponsored tweets will make it un-obstrusive and given by the examples mentioned in the post, a few of them could be useful too :P

    Wish you all the success for the future!!

    PS:: Can you please try handling the 140 char extension part.Itweet ends up losing my tweet if it goes beyond 140 and i hit enter :-(

    Posted by: Ankit on March 15, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • Although I usually hate ads, but I think this is a great idea. It doesn't disguise and can easily be differentiated with a different "designed box". As long as it doesn't start coming in floods, I wouldn't mind targeted ads in my stream.

    However, it really should be a lot more targeted. I'm seeing like "spanish" or something in my stream which I can't understand at all.

    It's a great effort on trying to monetize the system. You have made a quick step infront of Twitter founders. Good for you!

    Posted by: Belinda Ang on March 17, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • Colby, when I first saw an ad I thought it was Twitter. I went to Twitter.com and then I realized it was iTweet.net.
    Not too intrusive, but I think not precisely targeted when you use Spanish.

    Anyway, I think it´s a good move to get at least covered your expenses.

    @ebrito

    Posted by: Enrique on March 17, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • Hey Im all for it. One has to find a way to pay the bills. I like the idea how your are going to make them look a bit different so we know its from 140 Proof, so I won't ban them. Keep up the great work Colby! Love your stuff!

    Posted by: Captain Jack on March 17, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • I think there is a problem with some users when using itweet in firefox AND adblockplus. We are unable to see the timeline, just the loading image. I uninstall Adblock and it worked wonders. I tried with Opera and IE, and it worked as well. So, we firefox users who block ads can't use our itweet anymore.

    Posted by: lisa on March 20, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • @Ankit - Just this week Twitter just added some new API error checking for too-long tweets. I will add this to iTweet.

    @Belinda and @ebrito - Thanks for your feedback! I will talk to 140 Proof about their internationalization support.

    @Captain Jack - thanks so much for your feedback and support!

    @Lisa - thanks! I had become aware there were some people having problems with the site, but hadn't been able to figure out what was causing it. I'll find a way to fix that asap.

    Posted by: Colby Palmer on March 20, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • Hello I also liked your idea of monetization of the project. Maybe I would use your services, but if that will be involved Geolocation. For example displaying advertisements of Russian-speaking users from Belarus, Minsk.
    Bye!

    Posted by: Oleg on March 24, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • I have some problem with some users when using itweet in firefox AND adblockplus. We are unable to see the timeline, just the loading image. I uninstall Adblock and it worked wonders. I tried with Opera and IE, and it worked as well. So, we firefox users who block ads can’t use our itweet anymore.

    Posted by: Alan on April 4, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • We are unable to see the timeline, just the loading image. I uninstall Adblock and it worked wonders. I tried with Opera and IE, and it worked as well.

    Posted by: Ilan on April 22, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • I'm seeing like turkish or something in my stream which I can't understand at all.

    Posted by: Firma on April 22, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • For example displaying advertisements of Russian-speaking users from Belarus, Minsk.

    Posted by: ssk sorgulama on June 25, 2010 • Reply ↩

  • Hey Im all for it. One has to find a way to pay the bills. I like the idea how your are going to make them look a bit different so we know its from 140 Proof, so I won't ban them. Keep up the great work Colby! Love your stuff!

    Posted by: Ali LEmel on Nov. 26, 2011 • Reply ↩

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