Twitter will soon start charging developers for API access as the drive for revenue continues. The micro-blogging site tweeted that effective February 9, it will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. Instead it will make available a paid basic tier which developers can subscribe to.
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. Third-party developers use APIs to access data from applications and use it to make new services.
A couple of days ago, Twitter said it was no longer permitting third-party developers to create Twitter clients—apps that give an experience similar to the main Twitter app. The ban prevents all third-party apps, such as Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Aviary, Echofon, Birdie, and others, from accessing the social media platform.
According to Twitter,
“Over the years, hundreds of millions of people have sent over a trillion Tweets, with billions more every week.”
“Twitter data are among the world’s most powerful data sets. We’re committed to enabling fast & comprehensive access so you can continue to build with us. We’ll be back with more details on what you can expect next week.”
Elon Musk confirmed this development saying, “Yeah, free API is being abused badly right now by bot scammers & opinion manipulators. There’s no verification process or cost, so easy to spin up 100k bots to do bad things. Just ~$100/month for API access with ID verification will clean things up greatly.”
The billionaire has been looking for ways of generating increased revenue since he took over the reins of the company. After taking over, he laid off many employees and caused disaffection among internal and external parties thereby even losing some of the regular advertisers.
It recently increased subscriptions for Twitter Blue, its verification service in a bid to also increase its revenues in the aftermath of the revenue drop.
