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No, it's ads. You can just now buy from the ads directly.
No, it's not ads. Sponsored tweets will likely get the same treatment but this is the start of a two-sided marketplace where users stay on the site to buy an item from a tweet of someone they're following, rather than the old method which was to follow a bitly or gumroad link.
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Twitter isn't a protocol. If it was, there'd be Twitter (the protocol) based services everywhere, and it'd be open and federated. Twitter is a service. Services need money. It's a simple as that.
Thing is, Twitter should be a protocol. It clearly fills an existing need (I see it as very similar to email in that regard, just filling a different need – people want to chat publicly with each other and in a very informal way inform the public about things), but it doesn’t really make sense as a service that wants to make money. Twitter should be just like email, not this one monopoly controlling everything. It’s…
I really, truly do not understand Twitter's thinking. I'm sure on someone's spreadsheet of imaginary numbers it looks more attractive to be a billboard, but Twitter had the opportunity to be a true platform. A platform gives you control. It's a longer-term play, but my goodness the opportunities missed. Including this one, which could have been in play years ago.
Whether people will actually use this feature is a whole other question.
[1] http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sell-simply
Edit: Clarify first P.
I'm actually impressed they found a way to monetize their platform that doesn't involve obtrusive ads. This seems like a good source of income for them and their clients, and as long as they don't force you to follow commercial accounts, it will be almost invisible to anyone who doesn't want to see it. I'm cautiously optimistic.
Promoted Tweets are quite intrusive already...
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That's a possibility, but that still wouldn't be more intrusive than the current sponsored tweets. If anything, if this model is successful, they might even reduce the amount of sponsored stuff appearing in your timeline.
A platform rejecting ad customers? Not going to happen, ever.
There are exactly zero times I wished I could buy something from a Tweet with a button. Given that limited observation of buyer behavior, and knowing full well Twitter wishes to make profit, I'm assuming these buttons will be forced into my public stream somewhere, somehow. Some people on here think these buttons will be placed there by Twitter via ads, but I have another idea: Provide a micropayment channel program…
I'm going to guess you don't use the 'one-click buy' button on Amazon either?
Because when I'm browsing Twitter my first thought is usually "Gee I wish I could buy some random thing."
Just a guess you aren't following "random" companies but rather things you are interested in? OcculusVR: New Rift is out! [Buy] SXSW: Tickets on sale now! [Buy] JKRowling: Just release my new Book [Buy] Steam: [Some new Triple A game] is released [Buy] RaspberryPi: New Pi Beowulf cluster available for purchase [Buy] RedCross: [Some disaster] we need your support [Donate] (I'm sure a donate will come along if this wor…
That would be a very relevant functionality : Twitter is all instant emotion and therefore a perfect platform for impulse donations !
See Chirpify[1], who has since pivoted. I don't know if that pivot was because of the idea or because Twitter decided it made more sense to be an ad wall than a platform. I really, truly do not understand Twitter's thinking. I'm sure on someone's spreadsheet of imaginary numbers it looks more attractive to be a billboard, but Twitter had the opportunity to be a true platform. A platform gives you control. It's a long…