As he continues to change several things in the company after acquiring Twitter, CEO Elon Musk announced on his account that the company will be adding a subscription service that would show fewer advertisements to users.
CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images
(Photo : CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images) This photo illustration taken on December 18, 2022 in Los Angeles shows a phone displaying Elon Musk's Twitter page where he is conducting a survey about his future as the head of the company. - Twitter announced on December 18 it would no longer allow users to promote their accounts on several rival social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, but the site's mercurial owner Elon Musk appeared to backtrack on the new policy just hours later.
New Subscription Tier for Ad-Free Services
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk admitted in a series of tweets that Twitter ads are becoming too frequent and big on the platform and promised to address the problems in the upcoming weeks. South China Morning Post reported that the company will be offering a higher-priced subscription that allows zero ads on the platform.
Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads
This would add to the company's paid subscription offerings, which provide users with a better experience than the free tier (e.g. edit button, verification check mark, etc.). Aside from the frequency, ads on Twitter are taking up too much space to the point that half of the phone screen is full of promotions, commercials, etc.
December last year when Musk teased this service in a tweet saying, "Basic Blue will have half the number of ads. We will offer a higher tier with no ads next year."
Twitter Ads
Musk's new move would be a radical change in the business, especially that the social media platform is known for being reliant on targeted advertising to generate revenue. This was the company's source for revenue before launching a paid subscription service last year.
As per Reuters' report, Twitter earns 90% of its revenue from selling digital advertisements. When he took over the company, rights organizations were pressured to pause their operations, causing a massive drop in revenue.
Musk's relationship with advertising has been rough lately after firing half of the company workforce in November. Businesses raised their concerns that Twitter became insufficiently staffed to handle content moderation, with governments and advertisers being left out.
But the Twitter Chief stated that this was only his strategy to massively reduce costs while building up revenue. He also announced the new subscription service called Twiter Blue, which grants users blue verification check marks for free. Musk stated that this would help the company reach its goal.
Aside from the verification mark, this service also allows users to get more priority on the News Feed and longer video uploads.
Twitter Blue is currently available in the United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, costing users $11 a month for Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile operating systems. Meanwhile, web subscriptions offer $8 a month.
