Elon Musk to firms: Spend $1,000 on ads or lose verified status

Elon Musk said companies using X or Twitter must pay $1,000 for ads over the previous 30 days or lose their gold checkmark. The Wall Street Journal first reported about the billionaire’s decision and added firms could pay half the price through the end of this month.

The Chief Twit has been making several changes to Twitter, especially removing the iconic bird. Unfortunately, these changes have not been able to save the company from its financial troubles. This platform would likely introduce more changes as Elon Musk tries to save it, significantly affecting its users.

This article will discuss why Elon Musk will charge companies a steep price. Later, I will cover the other changes he’s been applying to the platform.

Why would Elon Musk charge money for ads?

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You may recognize Elon Musk as the man behind the famous Tesla electric vehicles and Starlink Internet. However, he has been struggling to manage Twitter.

Yahoo Finance says Musk has been paying heavy interest payments on $13 billion in acquisition-related debt. Also, the man publicly admitted Twitter has been losing 50% of ad revenue.

He has removed most of Twitter’s employees, but the company still loses money. Consequently, Musk may put off his ambitions of turning the social network into a super app like China’s WeChat.

Yahoo says Musk changed his priorities by trying to lure advertisers to his platform. It is a surprising pivot for a man famous for refusing to spend money on ads to allocate more for product development.

The news outlet reported Musk would charge at least $1,000 over the previous 30 days. Otherwise, they will see their verified status represented by their gold checkmarks. That is on top of the $1,000 they already pay for that check icon.

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Fortunately, they can get a discount through the end of this month. Business Insider says the platform’s top 500 biggest ad clients and 10,000 most followed corporate accounts don’t have to pay $1,000 monthly.

According to an email, “The goal of these discounts is to help our advertisers gain reach during crucial moments on Twitter, such as the Women’s World Cup.” Surprisingly, Musk did not deny the report.

He justified the hefty monthly fee, saying it makes it “expensive for scammers to create millions of accounts.” Despite Twitter’s dire financial straits, Musk is adamant the app “will become the most valuable brand on Earth.”

What are the other changes to Twitter?

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The biggest change to Twitter is its new name, X. I have been using its old name because most people haven’t gotten used to the new one.

How could it make money if it’s hard to remember the brand? After all, wouldn’t advertisers look for recognizable platforms? According to X CEO Linda Yaccarino, the company beat those odds.

She shared a memo celebrating the platform’s all-time high usage. However, Yaccarino did not share factors for that record uptick. Although it seems strange, the company still has declining ad revenue.

Elon Musk has also enabled users to earn money on X. For example, he recently launched the platform’s monetization model, causing some to celebrate their earnings publicly.

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According to TechCrunch, writer Brian Krassenstein allegedly earned $24,305. Also, a writer from the parody news website Babylon Bee, Ashley St. Clair, said she made $7,153.

Users earn money from ads, and the platform puts more as more people respond to their posts. Consequently, users would want more replies to boost their income.

Ideally, it should inspire conversation, but other social media like Facebook drive engagement with extreme negative emotions. Farzad Mesbahi said on X, “The more haters you have in your replies, the more money you’ll make on Twitter.”

Conclusion

Elon Musk says he will charge companies $1,000 to pay for advertising. Those who refuse to pay will lose their verified status and gold checkmarks.

CEO Yaccarino still faces other challenges to maintain Twitter’s social media dominance. For example, she must revive employee morale after Musk reduced the workforce from 8,000 to 1,500.

The company must also gain more users and income as competitors like Threads gain more popularity. Check out the latest digital trends at Inquirer Tech.