Has @earlybird caught its last worm?

On Tuesday, Dick Costolo, Twitter’s CEO, introduced some new ways Twitter will make money. Advertisers will soon be able to pay for Twitter to suggest that people follow their accounts, and next year Twitter advertising will expand to small businesses, which will be able to place ads using a self-serve system.

The micro-blogging site's early advertising venture - the @earlybird e-commerce system, is being discontinued as talk of their Promoted Accounts campaign hits the web. Brands will now be able to buy their way in to the "Who to follow" suggestion list on the Twitter homepage, Forbes's Velocity blog reported.