Twitter to feature more ads, but biding time on IPO

Expect to see more ads flowing through Twitter's stream of tweets in the coming weeks, but don't expect to read anything soon about an IPO from the online messaging service. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo delivered that message in a Thursday meeting with a group of reporters at the company's San Francisco headquarters. After bringing in more management talent and upgrading its service so it can handle big spikes in messaging, Twitter is ready to get more serious about building a successful business. But Costolo said that goal shouldn't be interpreted as a sign that five-year-old Twitter is poised to pursue an initial public offering of stock — a move that would require the company to reveal how much money it's making for the first time. Twitter doesn't need the money because it just raised $400 million (Dh1.46 billion) from venture capitalists and other investors. With such a large financial cushion, Costolo indicated Twitter is unlikely to pursue an IPO next year. "We now have what can only be referred to as a truckload of money in the bank," Costolo said. "We did that because we want to be in control of our destiny and grow the company the way we want to." The best way to do that, Costolo said, is to show more ads to Twitter's worldwide audience of 100 million active users. About half of those users log into Twitter each day, a sign that the service is becoming addictive. Twitter is becoming such rich source of information and entertainment, Costolo said, that roughly 40 million active users log into the service without ever posting a tweet. All ads, known as "promoted tweets," must comply with Twitter's online messaging service's 140-character limit. Twitter is expected to generate about $150 million in ad revenue this year, up from $45 million last year, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc.