Twitter Acquires Namo Media To Expand Native Advertising Efforts

Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) said Thursday it acquired Namo Media Inc. in a bid to expand its native ad offerings to app publishers and developers.

Namo Media, which specializes in native ad content, was purchased by the social microblogging platform for an undisclosed amount. This move complements Twitter’s 2013 purchase of mobile ad serving platform MoPub, for $350 million.

The San Francisco company expects to integrate its standalone product with the MoPub platform as it joins Twitter, according to a blog post.

“Combining our technology with MoPub will offer our current and future customers a more powerful platform to generate revenue, all while preserving an amazing user experience,” Namo Media said.

Twitter, which is also based in San Francisco, expressed its desire to expand its native advertising in its announcement:

“Since we acquired MoPub last October, we have been working to bring native ads to mobile app publishers in order to create a more seamless and less intrusive ad experience for users. We believe strongly that all app developers large and small should be able to monetize their applications without sacrificing the user experience.”

Unlike traditional banner ads and popups, native advertising seamlessly integrates into apps, in an attempt to be less disruptive to the user experience. You may have already seen some examples of this type of advertising on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), which features “promoted” posts automatically integrated into your News Feed.

The deeper move into native advertising for Twitter may be part of its larger efforts to generate revenue outside of its social network, as investors grow concerned over declining user growth.