Dive Brief: 

• Twitter beat expectations with its Q2 earnings, reporting a 129% ad revenue increase over last year with $277 million. 
• Perhaps most surprising was Twitter's boost in users, which some in the industry thought had peaked. The site reported 271 million users, compared to an expected 263 million to 267 million. 
• The social site can attribute the impressive quarter to its aggressive World Cup efforts and expanding ad initiatives like mobile app install ads, new targeting options, and a step into native ads. 

Dive Insight: 

While Twitter certainly surprised a lot of people with its Q2 results, the company still isn't profitable. Hopefully, the company's efforts to expand ad options will continue to pay off and the social site will be able to break into the black. The past year's acquisitions and new ad options do show some promise now that Twitter has numbers to back it up.