Twitter to charge $11 for Twitter Blue and Twitter Verified Badges, to offset Apple’s commission

It seems that Elon Musk is finally ready to relaunch Twitter Blue. However, the relaunched version of Twitter Blue might be more expensive than before and may cost users $11 every month.

For bypassing Apple and potentially Google’s commissions that they charge from app developers, Musk has decided to simply pass the cost off to customers who pay for Twitter Blue, and charge users $11 a month. Image Credit: AFP

The relaunch of the service was delayed mainly due to two reasons. First, Musk and his term wanted to come up with a fool-proof system for Twitter Blue, that would allow them to deal with fake accounts posing as brands and other notable personalities swiftly. Second, Musk wanted to come up with a system that would allow Twitter to bypass Apple’s commission that they charge app developers if their annual revenue is over $1 million.

To combat account impersonation, Musk’s team at Twitter have come up with the idea to use different coloured badges in addition to labels to denote different types of accounts. Twitter will be handing out three kinds of badges - a golden badge for companies and other organisations. Government agencies will be given a grey badge along with a label. Finally, the existing blue tick will be reserved for individuals, whether they are a celebrity or not.

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As for bypassing Apple and potentially Google’s commissions that they charge from app developers, Musk has decided to simply pass the cost off to customers who pay for Twitter Blue every month.

As per a report by The Information, Musk has told some staff that he plans to offer Twitter Blue for $8 for purchase on the web, but the price will be hiked to $11 per month for anyone who purchases the subscription through the App Store or the Google PlayStore.

The higher price will likely help offset Apple’s 30 per cent fees during the first year the service is offered in the App Store, ensuring that Musk still gets paid roughly $8 a head for anyone interested in forking over a monthly payment for a blue checkmark.

Earlier this week, Apple announced some changes to its App Store pricing policies, making it easier for developers to set the price they want for downloads. Apple made it so that developers “can adjust pricing at any time.” Perhaps this also will give Musk the flexibility to adjust Twitter Blue’s price if his higher price in the App Store results in fewer subscriptions.

It will be interesting to see how people who had supported Musk’s initial idea of charging $8 a month for a verified badge, react to an increase in price. It will also be interesting to see if people actually purchase Twitter Blue’s subscription directly from Twitter’s website. 

It should be noted that Twitter Blue subscribers get a whole bunch of features that regular, non-paying users don’t. The ability to edit a tweet, for example, is a feature that is exclusive to Twitter Blue subscribers. Furthermore, Twitter is also revamping how DM functions on Twitter and will be adding a lot of features. In all likelihood, these features will be reserved for paying customers.