Twitter is considering charging businesses and brands $1000 to retain gold verification checkmarks on the platform, a new report from The Information revealed on Friday afternoon. In internal documents obtained by the outlet, Twitter would also charge an additional $50 for every affiliated account as well. For companies seeking to keep their verification, $12,000 a year is a costly change for a feature that has previously been a free tool used to stop bad actors from engaging in impersonation.
Matt Navarra, a social media consultant, was the first to point out this pricing change and his tweets align with the report from The Information. There is no date set for this move as pricing is still being finalized and is subject to change. Before charging users $8/month for Twitter Blue, Musk originally planned for a $19.99/month subscription before decreasing the price after backlash, so there is precedent for a price change.
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The gold checkmark is a recent addition to Twitter, having been rolled out in December as “Verified for Organizations” (formerly Blue for Business). This was a part of a site-wide relaunch of Twitter Blue, after its disastrous initial launch in November alienated and drove many brands away from the platform due to impersonation concerns. The initial Twitter Blue rollout allowed anybody willing to pay $8 to be verified, and required no identity checks whatsoever, opening the door for many users to tweet seemingly on behalf of corporations and government officials.
Twitter has not officially announced the policy, and did not immediately respond to Mashable’s request for comment. If the plan does go forward, it would be an unsurprising move for the platform since Elon Musk took over last year. Musk stated before buying Twitter that he would look for avenues to monetize the app. Taking a concept meant to ensure validity and charging a stack for it fits Musk’s pattern. Musk has attempted to boost revenue in other ways including mass layoffs, banning third-party APIs since they don’t bring in ad revenue, and the possible introduction of a costly ad-free Twitter Blue subscription tier.
Additionally, Musk has stated that Twitter is looking to compensate creators through features like Coins and a creator fund. However, as it stands, Musk might not be in the financial situation just yet to deliver on his promises. Maybe that $1000 per month from businesses will help.
