Twitter’s top 500 advertisers could get free verification

As Twitter becomes more pay-to-play, it hurts smaller businesses and startups with limited followings and paid social advertising budgets.

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Twitter intends to impose a $1,000 monthly verification fee on organizations, but will exempt its 500 biggest advertisers and the 10,000 most-followed organizations with prior verification, according to an internal document acquired by The New York Times.

All accounts purchasing verification would undergo a review to ensure they were not engaging in impersonation, the document also indicated.

Why we care. Musk’s plans to charge organizations for verification could potentially impact their social media marketing strategy. A verification badge would typically be a valuable tool for businesses as it helps to establish their legitimacy and credibility on the platform. It indicates that their account is authentic, and helps to build trust with their audience.

If Twitter is now charging for verification, it may make it more difficult for smaller or emerging businesses to obtain the badge, which could affect their ability to attract and retain followers.

Additionally, the fact that Twitter is making exceptions for its top advertisers may create an uneven playing field, with larger organizations having an advantage over smaller ones.

Verified Organizations. Here’s how Twitter described the $1,000 per month program in a March 30 tweet:

Verified Organizations is a new way for organizations and their affiliates to distinguish themselves on Twitter. Rather than relying on Twitter to be the sole arbiter of truth for which accounts should be verified, vetted organizations that sign up for Verified Organizations are in full control of vetting and verifying accounts they’re affiliated with.

Accounts affiliated with the organization will receive an affiliate badge on their profile with the organization’s logo, and will be featured on the organization’s Twitter profile, indicating their affiliation. All organizations are vetted before they can join Verified Organizations.

We’ve already seen organizations, including sports teams, news organizations, financial firms, Fortune 500 companies, and nonprofits join Verified Organizations and list their affiliated accounts publicly on their profiles. And starting today, Verified Organizations are available globally. We are now sending email invitations to approved organizations from the waitlist.

Interested businesses, nonprofits, governments, and multilateral organizations around the world can join the waitlist here: https://T.co/VerifiedOrgs

Twitter’s top 10 advertisers spend down 89%. Twitter was hit by a “massive decline in advertising,” Musk said earlier this month, according to Reuters.

Part of that decline has been due to Twitter’s top 10 advertisers spending 89% less over the past two months ($7.6 million) than they did from September to October of last year ($71 million), according to Pathmatics data, via Bloomberg.

The Twitstorm timeline. Announcements from Twitter have been relatively quiet as of late. But here are some of the biggest changes (and reversal of said changes) since Musk took over:

  • CoTweets are being sunsetted.
  • In a beta available to all advertisers, Twitter launched a new Search Keyword Ads campaign objective.
  • Roll-Out Plan for Alternative Feeds, Updated Bookmarks UI and Long-Form Tweets is announced
  • Advanced Search filters could soon be coming for mobile.
  • Have an idea for a new Twitter account, but the username is taken? You may still be able to get it.
  • Musk announces that Twitter is rolling out View Count, so you can see how many times your video is seen. Once we have official confirmation and more info, we’ll let you know.
  • Musk creates a poll asking users If he should step aside as CEO. Final results: 57.5% say yes; 42.5% say no.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Nicole Farley
Contributor
Nicole Farley is the founder of Web Sprout, an inbound marketing agency. She formerly was PPC Editor for Search Engine Land (from 2022-2023), covering paid search, paid social, Google Analytics and more. In addition to being a Marine Corps veteran, she has an extensive background in digital marketing, an MBA and a penchant for true crime, podcasts, travel, and snacks.

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