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Twitter Admits It Recently Overcharged For Ads (cnn.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the more-bad-news dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a CBS report about more bad news for Twitter: The microblogging service has acknowledged that it inadvertently overcharged some advertisers for video ads, capping off a year that has featured a failed sale of the company, the departure of six of its 10 top executives and a nearly 30% drop in its stock price. As Business Insider reported, a bug in a recent version of Twitter's Android App inflated some metrics by as much as 35% for video ad campaigns that ran between November 7 and December 12.

The San Francisco-based company issued refunds to the affected advertisers, which in many cases were for minimal amounts of money, a person familiar with the situation said. "The impact was limited given this happened only on Android clients over the course of a month," the San Francisco-based company said in a statement. "This was a technical error, not a policy or definition issue, so it has been resolved."
One analyst told CBS, "I don't think this as fatal as it is embarrassing."

12 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. The new Twitter model ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... is to have an ISP scoop it up.

    "Exclusive to Verizon!! Twitter with no data cap! Move to our new product called "Vritter" and we will throw in a free Elf on the Shelf. No, make that two."

    For reference, see AT&T Direct TV.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    1. Re:The new Twitter model ... by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2

      ... is to have an ISP scoop it up.

      "Exclusive to Verizon!! Twitter with no data cap! Move to our new product called "Vritter" and we will throw in a free Elf on the Shelf*. No, make that two."

      For reference, see AT&T Direct TV.

      * Elf may record and transmit video and audio for customer service enhancement purposes...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    2. Re:The new Twitter model ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 2

      lol

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  2. "Inadvertently" overcharged by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Funny how companies never inadvertently undercharge.

    1. Re:"Inadvertently" overcharged by hdas · · Score: 1

      Good thought :). Like occasional overcharges, there are are undercharges as well, but obviously that's not news.

      In fact for those unfamiliar, it might surprise that the common model is to "undercharge" systematically based on something called second-price auction. This includes ad systems like Google AdWords and Yahoo Gemini. In a nutshell, the highest bidder wins, but pays only the bid of the runner-up. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... for some additional details. Needless to say, there are other complexities including reserve price calculations, so there are accidental screw-ups. Advertiser discounts like those mentioned in the article are quite common.

  3. Hard for it to be fatal by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Having been watching with some amusement the business news on Twitter, I have to agree that it's embarrassing, not fatal--mostly because I'd be amazed if Twitter managed to survive as a company long enough for this to manage to do much worse damage.

    1. Re:Hard for it to be fatal by ReedlyDeedly · · Score: 2

      Agreed. I used to have close to 20 friends working for Twitter. They've all left, including those in the legal department. The user base issue was something that they really couldn't change.

    2. Re:Hard for it to be fatal by Raenex · · Score: 1

      Unless their user base completely implodes, they should be fine as long as they trim the fat. I mean seriously, just how much would it take to run Twitter if you did it barebones?

      I'd start by moving out of overpriced San Francisco, getting rid of most management and anybody else not essential to running Twitter or generating profit. Then just generate sweet profit, and fuck Wall Street "expectations" for growth.

  4. Twitter needs to be forgiven this minor aberration by mmell · · Score: 1

    Otherwise, how will we ever know what POTUS is thinking right now?

  5. Re:Subscription-based Service by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    Maybe Twitter should offer a subscription-based tier which provides 256 character messages, URLs are not counted towards the character limit, and a threaded message structure.

    Yes, they should definitely reinvent the bulletin board.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  6. Re:Twitter needs to be forgiven this minor aberrat by Shane_Optima · · Score: 1

    Otherwise, how will we ever know what POTUS is thinking right now?

    I believe a modest amount of LSD plus a Magic 8-ball could, in a pinch, provide a reasonable approximation.

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