Twitter to stop offering advertisers access to 3rd party data sources next year

Twitter announced on Wednesday it will be removing third-party data sources from its ad platform early next year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Twitter is streamlining the way in which advertisers use audience data and shifting focus to the Twitter Ads API, which ultimately improves outcomes through technological advancement and developmental flexibility for our partners and customers,” a Twitter spokesperson told Marketing Land.

Once the new policy takes affect, advertisers will be required to purchase data on their own and Twitter will still need to approve the data sources used by advertisers.

Why we should care

Marketers on Twitter currently have the option to use third-party data sources offered by the platform, with ad costs for the data bundled into total ad costs. This change in policy means advertisers will have to rely on their own data sources. Twitter VP of Global Client Solutions, Sarah Personette, told the Wall Street Journal most Twitter advertisers are already using their own data to buy ads on the platform.

Twitter says the change is aimed at improving the process. “We want to make sure we’re creating and developing the best possible experience for every advertiser, agency and marketer utilizing the system,” said Personette.

Personette told the Wall Street Journal the new policy is unrelated to data protection efforts, but it comes at a time when data privacy — and legislation — is top of mind for most advertisers. GDPR already in affect and the California Consumer Privacy Act is coming January 1, 2020, right around the same time Twitter plans on removing third-party data sources from its platform.

More on the news

1. On Wednesday, Twitter announced it may have shared user data with its measurement and ad partners without permission from users. “The data involved stayed within Twitter and did not contain things like passwords, email accounts, etc,” wrote Twitter in a blog post on its Help Center.

2. Twitter’s decision to remove third-party data sources from its platform comes more than a year after Facebook removed third-party targeting data.

3. A Twitter spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that its policy requiring advertisers be responsible for the data they use will not change.