Twitter fiddles with ads, now shows brands in your Following list

Looks like Twitter’s new advertising technique has miffed many users. The social site has started experimenting with ad spaces and now shows brands in the list of accounts that members follow. TheNextWeb points out that Actor William Shatner was among the few who started noticing brands in their “Following” list. He noticed that MasterCard’s account had begun showing up on his own Following list. It should be noted that he doesn’t follow the credit card company on Twitter.

.@jack @safety Why am I following MasterCard when I didn't add them? I do not appreciate this. pic.twitter.com/k91D6vTaXZ

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 30, 2014

Actor Dwayne Johnson, who follows only Muhammed Ali, also had MasterCard listed on his “Following list”. It appears as a promoted accounted and are easily noticeable.

If I look at @TheRock's followers I see this yet it says he is only following 1 person. pic.twitter.com/rAbn7Jce7B

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 30, 2014

TNW points out that promoted accounts appearing in follower lists isn’t new. Twitter has reportedly been doing it since last year. However, it doesn’t mention follower lists as one of the locations for promoted accounts in its support pages for marketers. While it may have existed for a while now, this appears to be the most high-profile examples that may have compelled people to take notice. Moreover, it does appear as though a user is interested in specific brands, which could be quite deceptive.