We’re happy to report that 2010 ended with a bang!

The more success advertisers achieve in social media, the more budget they are happy to commit — and the Q4 holiday season bore this out.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

Going forward: As we enter 2011, we are singularly focused on helping brand advertisers connect with consumers through celebrity endorsements in social media.

We have therefore updated our fan / follower minimum to 25,000 for Twitter and MySpace accounts.

Here’s why: Advertisers pick the Ad.ly Influencers they want to work with based on a number of factors: personal brand, fan / follower reach and more.

And for the most part, they select celebrities, athletes and artists that have the ability to inspire engagement with millions of passionate fans and followers.

(See Khloe Kardashian endorsing Old Navy or Lamar Odom endorsing Jay-Z’s book release treasure hunt on Bing.)

What this means: If you are an Ad.ly Influencer with fewer than 25,000 fans / followers, we have taken you out of market until such time as you reach the new minimum on at least one network.

We understand that the new count may be out of reach for you — at least in the near term — and we apologize for the disappointment that may cause.

We hope you will agree that it is better to have a clear understanding of how advertisers’ needs have evolved, as well as realistic expectations for how that impacts your earning potential with Ad.ly.

Please email us at [email protected] with any questions.