Sponsored trending topics may soon be making an appearance, according to All Things Digital’s Peter Kafka (@pkafka).

The basic gist seems to be this: Advertisers will be able to insert their own term into the list of trends that Twitter displays on users’ home pages and on its login page. Clicking on that term would call up a Twitter search results page, which would feature that advertisers’ “Promoted Tweet” at the top of the results.

Advertisers who have heard Twitter talk about the product say the service imagines charging “tens of thousands of dollars” a day for exclusive placement rights.

I have to say this sounds like a really bad idea. I hate the thought of companies being able to buy their way into what is supposed to be a user-generated, trending topics list. I mean, sure, capitalism and all that, and I’m all for Twitter earning a buck, but where will it end?

(Source: All Things D.)