Emoji can now be used by brands in targeted advertising on Twitter. This update will allow emoji to act as 'keywords'.
Emoji-targeted advertising allows brands to connect with people based on their expressed sentiment, target people who Tweet food emoji and reach people based on their passions, says Neil Shah, ads API product manager for Twitter, in a blog post.
"This new feature uses emoji activity as a signal of a person's mood or mind-set - unlocking unique opportunities for marketers," says Shah.
For example, a pizza delivery service will be able to place adverts aimed at Twitter users who use the pizza emoji icon frequently.
"Emoji have become a ubiquitous way for people, publishers, and brands to express their feelings. And over 110 billion emoji have been tweeted since 2014," says Shah.
Last year, the Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year was the 'face with tears of joy' emoji. Emoji have been around since the late 1990s, but 2015 saw their use increase massively.
The service is available through select Twitter official partners: AdParlor, Amobee, HYFN, Perion, SocialCode and 4C.
Trouble in Rio
While Twitter is encouraging emoji usage, other tech companies are campaigning against some of the pictographs, specifically the rifle icon.
Microsoft, Apple and Facebook were among the companies that bandied together to remove the rifle emoji from the list of new emoji set to be released to smartphone keyboards later this year. The rifle was part of a set to commemorate the Olympic Games, in Rio, in August; it was meant to represent shooting as a sport.
Reasons for the removal were not given. The Telegraph reported the members of the Unicode Consortium, which is responsible for regulating emoji, voted unanimously to remove it. It says the body described it as "bizarre and unusual".
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