Twitter is introducing new features for Blue members, including the ability to see 50% fewer advertisements in their timeline than free users and an increase in search visibility.
Elon Musk had long promised Twitter Blue customers a feature that would allow them to avoid seeing as many sponsored tweets. The feature has now been implemented by the company and is now available on the “Following” and “For You” timelines.
“As you browse, you’ll notice that between promoted Tweets and advertising, there are roughly twice as many natural, unsponsored Tweets. According to Twitter’s description of the feature, there can occasionally be more or fewer non-sponsored Tweets in between promoted Tweets.
The social media platform made it clear that this functionality does not apply to advertising that are displayed in answers or on profiles, to promoted accounts and trends, or to events that are advertised on the Explore tab. Additionally, Twitter stated that the half-ads functionality would only be available after a subscriber’s profile had been examined and given the verification seal.
Apart from anecdotal evidence, it is difficult to confirm whether Twitter’s assertion that paid subscribers will see less advertising in their feeds is accurate.
Musk previously stated that Twitter was considering offering a more expensive paid tier without advertisements.
In addition to the ad-related feature, the company has also tweaked its priority-boosting perk for Blue subscribers. Earlier, the company said that paid users will get priority in replies. Now the feature reads “Prioritized rankings in conversations and search.” The support page for the Blue subscription elaborates that if a paid user interacts with a tweet, they get a “small boost in their ranking.”
Last month, Musk said that starting April 15, Twitter’s algorithmic timeline will only show posts from verified accounts and the people you follow.
A few weeks ago, Twitter rolled out the Blue subscription plan globally. Data suggests that despite the widespread availability, Twitter hasn’t managed to attract a lot of paid users. Analytics company SensorTower’s observations noted that Twitter had earned $11 million through mobile purchases until late March. Earlier this week, Similarweb’s data suggested that less than 1% of the social network’s monthly users are subscribed to Twitter Blue despite 116,000 signing up in March.
