As part of the ongoing switch from Twitter to X, Elon Musk and the team have told brands on the platform that they need to spend a huge amount of money every month to remain verified.
From 7 August, brand will lose their gold tick mark on the platform unless they spend at least US$1,000 (AU$1,490) on ads in the previous 30 days or US$6,000 on ads in the last 180 days (almost AU$9,000), according to an email seen by the Wall Street Journal.
However, Musk offered advertisers an alternative.
Or they can just pay $1000/month for a verified organization subscription with the ability to convey that organizational authority to affiliates. This more than pays for itself in organic reach.
The reason for the $1000/month is to set a moderately high bar to be a verified org,…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2023
Simple — just pay for a service that used to be free. Just as with the US$8 per month free to be verified as an ordinary person.
Presumably, the threat of having verification removed, unless businesses stump up the requisite cash, is a key component of his plan to stem the tide of advertising dollars, convince users to return to the platform and make X into the most valuable brand in the world.
