There is good news for you if you check up on Twitter when extreme weather hits. Twitter has launched a weather service in North American cities and the Dominican republic from tomorrow.
Eric Holthaus, a climate journalist, and 18 local meteorologists will create a combination of free and paid content. It will help you keep track of weather occurrences and gain more insights.
Free content is still unknown, but paying $10/month will let you ask the meteorologists an unlimited number of questions. It guaranteed that the team will respond. To podcasts and long-form news, early access and a weekly newsletter will be provided.
Product VP Mike Park said that the weather was a “perfect match” for Twitter. Many people use Twitter to keep track of natural disasters like hurricanes and floods. It could be helpful for authorities striving to get important updates.
Twitter would be able in reducing its dependence on ads even if only a handful of people subscribe. The question is that whether the app competes with its rivals? That is local news outlets or other dedicated weather update providers, $10 per month is not a handy amount if you occasionally want more than the forecast.
On the other hand, Twitter will begin testing advertising in Fleets, its competitor to the “stories” features on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram that let users post ephemeral updates. Twitter’s ad revenue grew 32% year over year in the first quarter to $899 million with total ad engagement increasing 11% over the same period. The company is making a broad effort to build more features at a faster clip as it seeks to grow to 315 million daily active users by the end of 2023.
The social media platform rolled out Fleets to all users in November after testing the feature in select markets. The posts show up at the top of users’ apps above their feed and allow users to post text, reactions to tweets, and photos or videos. The company declined to share any figures around the usage of Fleets.
Twitter will show full-screen vertical “billboards for advertisers” in Fleets. Brands can add a “swipe-up” option for users to learn more about the product or service being advertised.
