Twitter wants to cash in on businesses on the platform by charging them $1,000 a month to keep their gold checks, according to a report of The information. As noted by The informationbrands that don’t pay the $1,000 a month will lose their gold badges, though it’s unclear when that will happen.
Internal posts viewed by the outlet also reveal that Twitter is seeking an additional $50 per month to add badges to each account affiliated with the company. This corresponds to a screenshot posted by social media consultant Matt Navarrarevealing what appears to be an email between Twitter product manager Evan Jones and an unnamed company.
“As an early access subscriber, you get a gold check mark for your organization and affiliate badges for its employees,” the email reads. “If you want to subscribe, Verified for Organizations costs $1,000 per month and $50 per additional affiliate handle per month with one month of free affiliates.”
Twitter rolled out gold badges ahead of its Verification for Organizations program (previously called Blue for Business), which allows companies to “verify and differentiate themselves on Twitter.” It also allows companies to add badges with thumbnail versions of their Twitter profile pictures to accounts of employees, executives and anyone associated with the brand, much like the small Twitter logo on Twitter product manager profile of Esther Crawford.
Navarra followed later with another screenshot of a direct message between another business and product executive at Twitter, reaffirming the $1,000 per month rate. Twitter has still not officially released pricing information for its Verification for Organization plan and started offering early access to last month’s program. The company did not immediately respond The edge‘s request for comment, as the company no longer has a communications team.