Twitter to charge businesses $1K per month to keep gold verification: report

The pricing structure is still being worked out and is subject to change

Twitter will reportedly be charging businesses $1,000 a month to keep gold verification status as the social media company, under the stewardship of Elon Musk, looks for new ways to compensate for declining ad revenue. 

The move was first reported Friday by Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst. Navarra shared a screenshot of an email elaborating on the new plan. 

The details suggest verified organizations can subscribe to gold checkmark status for $1,000 per month plus $50 per month per additional affiliated handles. 

A gold checkmark status will increase the reach and distribution of an organization and its affiliates, according to internal documents reviewed by Navarra. 

ELON MUSK SAYS TWITTER IS ‘TRENDING TO BREAKEVEN,' LAST THREE MONTHS WERE ‘EXTREMELY TOUGH’

Brands that refuse to pay the monthly fee will have their gold checkmark status removed, The Information, a technology business publication, reported Saturday.

The pricing structure, though, is still being worked out and is subject to change. FOX Business has reached out to Twitter seeking more information. 

Twitter

FILE: A smartphone screen shows the timeline in the Twitter app. After a break of three and a half years, Twitter will once again confirm the identity of users with a verification checkmark. (Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Musk has made a number of controversial changes to the platform since his chaotic $44 billion acquisition in late October. Since then, he’s cut about half of Twitter’s staff and rolled out a revamped Twitter Blue subscription service, which alienated many users. 

The social media platform unveiled gold badges for brands in December.  

On Friday, Musk said Twitter’s legacy Blue Verified "is unfortunately deeply corrupted, so will sunset in a few months." 

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More recently, Twitter said it will start charging a fee to access its API, which developers use to create third-party services. 

FOX Business’ Paul Best contributed to this report.