Twitter exploring subscription option to improve revenue streams

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Twitter logo Pixel (Image credit: Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Twitter has confirmed it is exploring the option of adding a subscription to its platform.
  • It follows speculation Twitter may seek to improve revenue in this manner.
  • CEO Jack Dorsey told investors they will test different approaches this year.

Twitter has confirmed to investors it is exploring a subscription option for its platform and may begin testing different approaches later this year.

CEO Jack Dorsey told investors on a call yesterday that it was thinking of new ways to make money, as CNN Business reports:

Twitter (TWTR) is actively exploring additional ways to make money from its users, including by considering a subscription model, CEO Jack Dorsey said Thursday. The move comes as Twitter suffers a sharp decline in its core advertising business.

Dorsey reportedly said "you will likely see some tests this year" of different approaches, and that when it came to asking users to pay for various aspects of Twitter it would set "a really high bar", but that all thoughts about diversifying Twitter's revenue were in "very, very early phases of exploring."

In a tweet Twitter later stated:

We're also in early stages of exploring add'l potential revenue products that complement our advertising business, which may include subscriptions & others. It is very early; we do not expect any revenue against these in 2020.

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Twitter was one of many social media platforms hit by advertising boycotts during protests last month, noting that ad revenue fell 15% in the last three weeks of June alone. Twitter was rocked last week by a major security breach on its platform. Seemingly, hackers paid off Twitter employees to give them access to various accounts, using some high profile accounts to advertise a Bitcoin scam. According to Twitter, at least one elected official had their DMs accessed during the breach.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9