Twitter tells small advertisers to pay for verification to continue running ads

Business accounts that spend less than $1,000 monthly must subscribe to either Twitter Blue or Verified Organizations badge to continue running ads on the platform.

Twitter has informed advertisers that, starting Friday (21 April), their accounts must have a verified checkmark to continue running ads.

Advertisers that spend $1,000 per month already have a gold check or will soon and can “continue to enjoy access to advertising without interruption at this time,” the company said.

The change “aligns with Twitter’s broader verification strategy,” the company said in a message to advertisers shared online by social media consultant Matt Navarra.

The new approach aims to reduce fraudulent accounts and bots by ensuring advertisers are verified as real persons or businesses, Twitter said.

The “superior” experience will provide benefits such as increased organic visibility and access to a broader range of content creation tools, the message read.

Twitter has not recovered after the exodus of advertisers in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of the company in October. With half its top 1,000 advertisers reportedly yet to return, Twitter seeks to increase subscription revenue to meet financial obligations.

A further blow comes with Microsoft announcing that it would no longer support Twitter on its own advertising platform come 25 April.

Musk has paid $44 billion for Twitter and said in an interview with BBC last week that he thought the platform was now worth $20 billion.

The billionaire has embarked on a series of cost-saving measures following the takeover, including “painful” layoffs that he said reduced Twitter’s workforce from just under 8,000 to around 1,500.