Twitter considers charging businesses

 

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Posted on 11 Feb 2009 at 09:29

Twitter is considering charging companies a "membership fee" for using the service to connect with their customers.

"We are noticing more companies using Twitter and individuals following them," says co-founder Biz Stone in an interview with Marketing. "We can identify ways to make this experience even more valuable and charge for commercial accounts."

There was no discussion of how much the service was thinking of charging, or how far advanced the plans are.

An alternative source of revenue is advertising, but Stone says Twitter is approaching the area cautiously.

"There is a pretty obvious opportunity there. There is a level of intent that someone is showing when they come to a Twitter search and type in, say, iPhone... But how would they [users] respond to us putting ads on the site? Are we going to end up p***ing them off?"

"We are still very early in the idea stage and we don't have anything to share just yet despite a recent surge in speculation."

Businesses were quick to react to the news with Bob Pearson, vice president of communities and conversations at Dell, suggesting that the company's substantial presence on Twitter wasn't guaranteed.

"If it becomes complicated and costly, our instinct would be to move elsewhere," he tells the magazine. "There are other ways that Twitter can monetise its site, through advertising or other means. It doesn't have to be charging business customers to be part of it. But that's for Twitter to think through."

Twitter has recently entered the UK's top 100 sites, shooting up in popularity as celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross introduce it to a wider audience.

PC Pro has also caved in to the Twitter phenomenon. Sign up to our Twitter feed and offer your suggestions on how we should use the service here.

Author: Stuart Turton