Skip to Content

Now Television Advertisers Know You’re Tweeting

If you tweet about a TV show or its ads, don’t be surprised if the advertisers “sponsored tweet” you back.

People love to tweet about television shows they are watching; this much, we know. But now the analytics technologies are producing the payback: televsion advertisers will find out and tweet them back.

This new possibility comes thanks to Twitter having bought the MIT startup Bluefin labs (see “A Social Media Decoder”). Bluefin measures people’s reaction to specific airings of TV shows and ads, which it tracks and aligns with the tweets it captures. It also keeps track of what individual tweeters are talking about over time.

So don’t be surprised, next time you tweet about a great Super Bowl play, when the Doritos tweet you back. The plan was announced and explained here, in a Twitter blog written by the Bluefin cofounder Michael Fleischman, who is now a Twitter product manager for revenue.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets

When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.

The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.

Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.

It’s time to retire the term “user”

The proliferation of AI means we need a new word.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.