Twitter is making it easier for anyone to view the source of all the ads being run by users with the release of its new Twitter Ads Transparency Center. The goal is to help people better understand the motivations behind ads they see on the platform.

Search and view Twitter ads faster

This new feature from Twitter lets anyone quickly search and view ads that were posted by any Twitter profile. To view the ads, just go to the Ads Transparency Center (ATC) page and enter either the account’s name or handle in the search bar along the top. It looks like this:

The service will show all the promoted tweets that the profile posted within the last 7 days. If a particular ad has been reported and taken down, that ad will remain visible in the ATC within 24 hours after it was removed.

The Ads Transparency Center will cover all advertisers on the platform, whether they are commercial or political. Anyone can search the ATC’s database, even without a Twitter account. Twitter said this makes it easier for people to get insights on who advertises on its platform.

More information on political ads

The Twitter Ads Transparency Center also provides additional information about US-based political advertisers. Some of the details that will be visible on a political advertiser’s ATC entry are:

• Billing information
• Ad spending
• Impression data per tweet
• Demographic targeting data for the ad

These additional details are listed in accordance to the new Political Campaign Policy that Twitter announced in May. The policy states the necessary disclosures and other requirements that political advertisers must make known to be allowed to post their ads on Twitter.

Aside from the ad information that political campaigners need to make public, they are also required to properly identify themselves on their profiles. They should have a visual badge and disclaimer on their promotional tweets. This lets you know who these advertisers are and whether they are affiliated with a particular candidate.

The added information requirements for political advertisements are currently limited to US-based campaigners. Twitter does have plans to expand its coverage to other regions.

What it means for advertisers

The launch of the new Twitter Ads Transparency Center is the site’s latest effort to provide greater transparency for political advertisements on its platform. This comes after questions were raised on how the site might have been used to influence the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential elections.

The ACT is also a useful tool for doing market research for both political or commercial ad campaigns. With it, you can quickly track the various ads that your competitors are posting. You can use the insights to plan out your own marketing campaign to better target audiences.

The new Twitter Ads Transparency Center is meant to provide greater transparency for political advertisers, but it can also be a useful tool for commercial advertisers. Check out how the tool can help you create more effective ads thanks to the research you can do through it.