Twitter over-reported Android video ad views

Wednesday, 4 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com): Twitter accidentally over-reported video ad views from its Android app, according to a Business Insider report that has since been confirmed by the company. A bug in the app caused ad viewing numbers to be inflated by as much as 35% between November 7 and December 12.

Twitter reportedly notified advertisers of the mistake earlier this week, and has since issued refunds for overpaid ad dollars. There’s no word on how widespread the over-reporting was. The company recently reported that 83% of its monthly average users are mobile average users, but hasn’t broken up Android vs. iOS usage. Twitter is not the only company having trouble with reporting views accurately: Facebook had to repeatedly tell advertisers in recent months that it had miscalculated video metrics.

Some of those mishaps lasted far longer than Twitter’s Android app problem. In September, Facebook revealed that it had given partners misleading data about average video viewing times for about two years.

However, for Twitter, the revelations could be more consequential. The company has long struggled to meet revenue and usage expectations of investors. In addition, it has seen some significant executive turnover this year. Earlier this week, Twitter CTO Adam Messinger revealed that he was leaving the company. Twitter’s stock hit a 3-month low of $16.38 Friday, down 17% from a high of $19.65 earlier this month.