Twitter already has a Twitter Blue subscription service that allows users to buy blue ticks. Now Elon Musk has revealed that Twitter is preparing a new ad-free subscription service.
In his tweets on Twitter, Musk first acknowledged that the ads on Twitter appear too frequently and are too large. He said he was taking steps to address the two issues.
In a separate tweet, Musk also added that Twitter would release a subscription service that would allow users to view a timeline free of ads, but at a higher cost.
“Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads,” Musk said in a tweet, as quoted by The Verge, Monday (23/1/2023).
Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2023
It is not yet known how much it will cost to subscribe to this ad-free premium service. But Twitter Blue, which is now available, costs USD 8 if you subscribe via the web, up to USD 11 per month if you subscribe via Android or iOS.
Currently Twitter Blue subscribers can get exclusive features like blue ticks, edit tweets, upload longer 1080p videos, and more. Twitter Blue subscribers are also promised to see fewer ads than regular users, but this feature is yet to be rolled out.
This news comes not long after a report from The Information revealed that Twitter's revenue fell 40% in the same day compared to one year ago.
In one of its internal slides, Twitter attributed the decline to the initial launch of Twitter Blue, which used the paid verification feature to impersonate the accounts of high-profile celebrities, brands and politicians.
Twitter also recently blocked third-party clients such as Tweetbot and Twitterific for violating developer agreements. Even though third-party applications like this usually offer more features than the Twitter application, including viewing an ad-free timeline.
