Twitter has announced its move to offer ‘promoted tweets’ as a form of advertising through the service, the California-based social network is valued at more than a billion but has so far failed to generate revenue. Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has eschewed the lure of traditional advertising to generate value rather than profit, an unusually risky business move.

The long-awaited ‘promoted tweets’ were recently launched, a marketing opportunity that Twitter co-founder Biz Stone describes as “ordinary tweets that companies and organizations want to highlight to a broader group of users.”

To maintain the natural feel of Twitter, executives insist that tweets “resonate with users,” and only allow tweets to remain present if they are retweeted and replied to to avoid a spam effect. Tweets will initially appear at the top of search results as Google’s “sponsored links,” but a second development will see them embedded in individual user feeds.

Thousands of businesses large and small have made use of Twitter, some commercially, some just for a presence, but only a small number have generated really substantial revenue from using the service. They have been able to generate a return on investment and increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. Starbucks has used Twitter primarily as a promotional tool, but also as a place for customer service. It has been highly successful in promoting customer interaction and brand relationships.

Starbucks almost became public enemy number one after its ruthless push for monopolization with its expensive coffee. However, they were able to successfully manage social media, namely Twitter, in a way that promoted interaction with their customers and built personal relationships with consumers. Using Promoted Tweets would allow Starbucks to reach millions of potential customers, and if handled like your regular Tweets, it should build relationships with an even larger group of customers.

Experts have said how companies like Starbucks could offer deals and discounts to anyone who ‘retweets’ a message that could provide a huge level of ‘word of mouth’ promotion at no additional cost than the original tweet.