Twitter launching paid business accounts

Businesses are under no obligation to sign up to a paid account, but doing so will provide them with a "special layer of access", including feedback and statistics, said Stone. Many big name brands and companies have embraced Twitter as a way of communicating directly with consumers and engaging with customers. Personal accounts remain free.

"This takes advantage of some of the commercial use of Twitter we've seen from businesses like airlines and big box stores," said Stone. "We want to present to them a layer of features that allows them to become better at Twitter, show them some of the analytics."

Twitter, which is valued at around $1 billion, has yet to settle on a business model for the service, and paid-for business accounts will provide a welcome revenue stream for the microblogging platform.

Stone also confirmed that Twitter would consider signing deals with other companies to license its content and live streams to other sites. He didn't rule out the possibility of partnerships with news agencies and media organisations, which often use Twitter feeds as part of their newsgathering operations.

News of earthquakes, terrorist acts and other crucial events often spread first on Twitter before being picked up and verified by the mainstream media. The first photograph of the plane that crashed in to the Hudson River appeared on Twitter.

"I felt there was a wonderful partnership to be had here," he said. "It is an interesting time for news organisations and I am looking forward to seeing what we can create if we open our doors to them."

Last month, Twitter signed deals with Google and Microsoft Bing to integrate its real-time search results in to both search engines.