Twitter testing a way for Promoted Tweets to be shown to people not logged in

Twitter has begun testing a new advertising opportunity for marketers. The company has announced that it is exploring the possibility of bringing Promoted Tweets to people who aren’t logged in. By doing so, Twitter said that marketers “will be able to speak to more people in new places using the same targeting, ad creative, and measurement tools.”

It’s important to note that while Twitter is testing out this potential, there is a possibility that it may never come to fruition. As with most experiments, the company is simply looking to see if the idea has merit and is feasible. But what this plan aims to do is to move beyond the 320 million monthly active users to access the millions more who are browsing the Web.

Perhaps the most visible change to expect will be in Google Search. Twitter’s revenue product manager, Deepak Rao, said that branded Promoted Tweets will now be displayed in search results along with organic Tweets.

It’s also not beyond the realm of possibility for Promoted Tweets to be injected into someone’s profile and viewed by a user who is not logged in. If, for example, you look at Donald Trump’s Twitter profile, you’ll typically see the tweets in his timeline, but now you might also encounter a Promoted Tweet from someone opposing him or from anyone else. The same could happen if you are looking at the profile page for ESPN and see a Promoted Tweet from the NFL, NBA, or a business partner.

This move is another attempt by Twitter to prove to advertisers why it’s worth a second look. It’s doing a decent job with advertising on its site to logged-in users, so why not make an effort to reach non-active and not-logged in users? Depending on how successful the beta test is, this could be a way for third-party developers to further monetize apps that use Twitter’s Fabric offering.

As Twitter’s advertising campaign is in full swing, people are becoming more aware that the service is a place for conversation. Non-users who visit the site won’t be able to experience it fully, but showcasing Twitter within Google search results could allow people to find helpful or relevant tweets and become curious.

Only select advertisers in the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Australia will have the ability to bring Promoted Tweets to those not logged into the service. Twitter also said that the test will support “campaigns driving website clicks or conversions, or video views.” The ads will also only be displayed on desktop.