Geoff Weiss says, “While Twitter continues to be plagued by lackluster growth and confusion about its ultimate identity — not to mention an ongoing leadership shuffle — the video category has been a critical focus for the social network this year. In an appearance today at the digital media summit VidCon, Twitter’s head of TV and video Baljeet Singh hinted that the company is exploring options that would allow more creators to monetize their content. Given that users frequently converge upon Twitter to discuss viral moments from cultural events such as the Super Bowl and award... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Twitter today announced an update to its audience insights dashboard and introduced a streamlined way for advertisers to target demographic groups. Launched in late May, the audience insights dashboard provides a snapshot of Twitter user demographics, such as income, interests and purchasing behavior. Today’s update enables brands to apply those demographics specifically to their ad campaigns and tailored audiences. The demographic information is aggregated from Twitter data partners Datalogix and Acxiom, and displayed without personally identifying any individual users. Twitter... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Accelerating its efforts to become a e-commerce marketplace, Twitter today introducedtwo new ways for brands to display their wares on the social network. The new features — product pages and Collections — will give businesses the opportunity to create another beachhead on the social network. The product pages are dedicated landing zones that include tweets about the product, user reviews, photos, videos, pricing and in some cases a buy button that allows people to make purchases without leaving Twitter. Collections enable brands or high-profile curators to compile... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Taking dead aim at the lucrative market for video advertising, Twitter announced today that it will start serving autoplay video to its users. The move is no surprise. Given how well Facebook has been leveraging autoplay — to the tune of 4 billion views a day — it was only a matter of time before Twitter introducedits own way to entice more people to watch video on its platform. With today’s move, Twitter is also displaying video larger within people’s timelines, the better to compete for  the estimated $7.7 billion U.S. market for online video ads.  Twitter... [...]

Seth Fiegerman says, “Twitter is about to get even more chaotic and distracting. The social network announced Tuesday that Vine videos, GIFs and clips created through Twitter’s recently launched video sharing tool will all default to playing automatically on the social network. The change is rolling out to everyone today on Twitter’s website and iOS application, with Android to follow in the future. Users will have the option to “revert” to the earlier click-to-play video setting — but how many actually will? Twitter’s shift to autoplay videos, rumored for... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “You will soon be able to send much longer direct messages on Twitter. The site plans to remove the 140-character limit on its direct messaging feature in July, the company revealed in a post on its developer forum on Thursday. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to Mashable the character limit would be changing sometime in July but declined to provide more specific timing. The character limit for regular tweets, which is also 140, will remain in place. “You may be wondering what this means for the public side of Twitter,” Sachin Agarwal, Twitter’s product... [...]

Ariel Bogle says, “If you’ve ever got lost trying to keep up with a fast-moving conversation on Twitter, this update is for you. Twitter announced changes on Monday to how conversations will appear on the social media platform. Recognizing that real-time conversations sparked by a single Tweet can often be hard to follow, Twitter has decided to group related conversations under the original Tweet, and also highlight notable exchanges. It will prioritize certain online discussions, taking into account factors such as whether the original Twitter account replied. There’s also a... [...]

JP Mangalindan says, “Early Twitter investor Chris Sacca said on Friday that if the social network eventually pursued a sale, Facebook, Google, Alibaba or Microsoft would benefit most from acquiring it. That was the gist of Sacca’s latest television interview on Friday. The tech investor, who has funneled cash into more than 40 businesses, including Uber and Instagram, name-checked those four tech giants during his Bloomberg interview. “I think all of those companies would benefit strategically,” Sacca said. “All of those companies would be able to explain to their... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Twitter is one of the largest, most popular social platforms in the world but despite the fact that it is generating significant advertising revenue, the company has struggled to live up to expectations. One of Twitter’s most promising ad products, Amplify, allows advertisers to display pre-roll ads against video clips distributed via the service. Especially popular with television and cable networks, Amplify has been a mixed bag for advertisers who complain that they’re too hard to purchase. They have “just been a huge pain in the ass to activate,”... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Twitter is making it easier for advertisers to tap into Amplify, its video clip focused ad product. Amplify is a two-year-old product that has been one of the cornerstones of Twitter’s video advertising efforts. It allows advertisers, publishers and brands like the NBA to serve Twitter users with near real-time video clips from events. The idea is to reach people on their second-screens while they are watching a televised event — an NBA playoff game, for instance — or to entice people not watching the event to tune in. Now Twitter has given Amplify a self-service... [...]