Since 25th of November 2013 Twitter introduces its age verification system. Twitter’s AVS works in Twitter.com on the Web as well as on iOS and Android devices. Twittter’s AVS is focused on alcohol marketing. The first brands to include it in the marketing strategy are Bud Light, Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Heineken, and Bacardi, who are integrating the tool into their overall Twitter ad strategy. As Twitter informs, Bud Light is using age-screened Promoted Accounts to reach people who are 21 and older and interested in the NFL during their #whatsyoursuperstition campaign, while Knob Creek is using it to launch their small batch bourbon brand on Twitter. To set up this new form of age-screening, clients with account support can contact their teams directly; those with self-serve accounts can request access here.
Prior to this point, Twitter partnered with Salesforce.com owned Buddy Media to use direct messaging to verify age. That direct message contained a link to a separate age verification screen which required a date of birth confirmation as well as acceptance of an extensive privacy policy. The new method is significantly more user-friendly. It also automates the unfollow process on the brand’s side, essentially not allowing users to follow the brand’s Twitter account if the user is too young.
”Our hope is that this approach to age-screening will enable alcohol brands to responsibly and safely connect with the right audience on Twitter.”
– Twitter product manager Tarun Jain said.
Of course, similarly to other AVS systems, Twitter’s one can be easily cheated, and every 14 years old teenager can calculate and provide the date of birth that would meet legal requirement of his/her jurisdiction. Anyway, the new Twitters age-gate is more user friendly and in the same time provides liquor distributor simple tool to verify the declared age of the user in the level that complies with regulatory obligations.
Important things to bear in mind are:
1. Twitter’s AVS enforces the ToS that is provided by Salesforce Marketing Cloud – Buddy Media and not the advertising company itself.
2. Twitter’s AVS works via Direct messaging system, and the process requires user to agree for sharing his age data with other companies. It may be in the future used for advertising of other products.
3. For now, Twitters AVS service is free, to register it is enough to register at http://age.twitter.com
