Twitter Partners With DoubleClick, Acquires Martech Firm TellApart

Twitter tucked some advertising news into its lackluster earnings report today, announcing a partnership and acquisition both aimed at improving the way it measures advertising performance and attribution.

Twitter is teaming up with Google’s DoubleClick platform and give Twitter advertisers the ability to track conversions that result from views and other actions on Twitter. Advertisers will also be able to purchase Promoted Tweets using the DoubleClick Bid Manager platform.

The move, which will be implemented later this year, will give Twitter better data to show direct marketers how advertising on Twitter pays off. Twitter senior director of product management Ameet Ranadive explained in a blog post:

Consumers now move fluidly between apps, devices and platforms, and we need measurement models that take this behavior into account. For marketers to truly understand the consumer path to conversion across multiple devices and platforms, measurement systems have to move beyond traditional attribution models. And we want advertisers to have insights into the rich canvas of actions beyond website clicks on platforms like ours (e.g., Retweets) and the role they play in determining a campaign’s ROI.

Twitter’s acquisition — of marketing technology firm TellApart — is also aimed at improving the network’s direct response capabilities. TellApart provides retailers and ecommerce businesses with cross-device retargeting through dynamic product ads and email marketing. Neiman Marcus, Pottery Barn, Sur la Table and Wayfair are some of TellApart’s clients.

“With continued investment and expansion through our global sales teams,” Twitter senior VP of product Kevin Weil wrote in a blog post, “we believe we can extend TellApart’s services internationally and to industries beyond retail.”