Much of the buzz surrounding this year's SXSW Interactive conference centered on Twitter's much-anticipated ad platform, but that eagerly awaited announcement never came. But while Twitter did not unveil an ad model at the conference, it did unveil a new information-sharing tool for publishers.
Dubbed @anywhere, the new service will essentially let publishers further integrate with Twitter's platform. When users mouse over highlighted terms on a webpage, a box will appear with Twitter data related to the term, which might include branded accounts or recent updates, Adweek reports.
Initial sites implanting the service include Amazon, Ad Age, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and YouTube. Twitter did not give a launch date, but once the service goes live, users will be able to follow New York Times reporters directly from their bylines or tweet about YouTube videos without leaving the site, according to the company.
While Twitter's service is big news, it left much of the SXSW crowd disappointed. The crowd thinned out substantially after Twitter CEO Evan Williams announced @anywhere in an interview with Havas Media Lab director Umair Haque, and some audience members even complained that the interview itself was boring, according to Adweek.
