Twitter will begin selling political advertisements this week, POLITICO reports, trying to capture a share of the upcoming presidential election.
The ads will appear in users' timelines and in search results on the site — allowing candidates to make a bigger splash on the social networking service.
At least five presidential campaigns, and party committees have reportedly signed on for the initial launch.
The sponsored tweets will be accompanied by a small purple check-mark to separate them from normal tweets, Ben Smith reports.
At least 81 Senators and 316 representatives — and all presidential candidates — have Twitter accounts, according to GovSM, which tracks politicians' use of social media.
