Is #RoyalWedding an early warning sign?

TechCrunch reports on "The Pitfall Of Twitter’s Promoted Trends."

Long before social media had reached critical mass, advertisers were reluctant to place ads on MySpace. The main concern of big brands was their new high performance shoe or high paid celebrity endorsement banner being placed next to a schlocky user profile. Brands got over it because MySpace traffic kept growing and the eyeballs were tough to pass up.

Now, Twitter finds itself in a position similar to MySpace in 2006. Traffic is growing rapidly and daily ad rates are rising. Advertisers and media buyers can't seem to pass up this opportunity, in some cases employing worst practices:

Running ads promoting a time-sensitive event that's already completed:

Buying ads on terms having nothing to do with a brand:

Running a high risk of hashtag brandjacking as conversation flow shifts in real-time: 

In paid search, brand investments in contextual ads were eventually protected by algorithm. Hockey stick growth doesn't last forever and advertiser interest will plateau quickly unless the platform provides better experience. Twitter needs to find ways to protect advertiser interests or risk heading down the path to MySpace.

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