Twitter has announced an advertising program called ‘Promoted Tweets’.

Similar to SEM, a promoted tweet will show up when Twitter users search for keywords advertisers have purchased to link to their ads. The social media company also intends to begin showing promoted tweets in Twitter feeds based on relevancy in the future.

Several brands will be a part of the initial launch, including Best Buy, Starbucks and Virgin America. The initiative will allow brands to prevent being buried in the stream: when a Twitter user performs a search for a keyword, the tweet will display at the top of the page and will indicate they are sponsored.

Update: Twitter has updated their blog regarding the initiative.