Social network X has made it more expensive to post links through its API. The change is designed to thwart spam and “vectors of misuse,” the company said. The new pricing increased costs from $0.01 per link to $0.20
Last week, the X developer account posted changes to its API rates. The two most notable hikes were an increase in link posting price and an increase in posting price, which went up from $0.01 to $0.15 per post.
These changes are designed to drive healthier developer behavior and curb vectors of misuse.More great features & updates coming very soon.
This move might discourage many publications from posting links. For instance, tech news aggregator Techmeme stopped adding links to the original articles in its posts on X this week. Instead, the posts say “Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!”
The US DOJ says a former ransomware negotiator pleaded guilty to helping cybercriminals extort companies in cyberattacks in five different incidents (@lorenzofb / TechCrunch)(Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)
Earlier this week, Techmeme said that the price increase was one of the reasons to remove links, which it said may return later. The publication also cited a Nieman Lab study, which noted that including links with posts on X resulted in dropped engagement.
FYI: We're now omitting links in @Techmeme tweets. Why?1. Links limit reach (see embedded study)2. The cost for posting links using X's API increased today by 1900%.Links may return later, but we're still exploring how we might accomplish that. https://t.co/nqVpp5ymy1
X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, refuted the study’s results and said that accounts covered in the study were “habitual headline+link posters” that posted no additional context. He also replied to the Techmeme founder Gabe Rivera, that there is “no there is no code that is deboosting links.”
He added that Techmeme should post a screenshot of reactions to the news along with the link.
Techmeme should screenshot these and put them in the parent post. To succeed with links, the linked content must bleed into the post. pic.twitter.com/w353RExKVM
Earlier in the week, Rivera reacted to API price changes and said that this would force news sites to pay hundreds of dollars or post manually.
“I think they’re saying if you have a news site that tweets links, and you don’t tweet them manually, you now have to pay X hundreds of dollars per month?” he argued.
The debate of X reducing the reach of posts with links is not new. A few years ago, the company cut headlines from the link previews on the platform but reverted the change after a few weeks.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Ivan Mehta Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.
You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing im@ivanmehta.com or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal.
April 30 San Francisco, CA StrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF. Get in the room for unfiltered fireside chats with industry leaders, insider VC insights, and high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited.
Most Popular Unauthorized group has gained access to Anthropic’s exclusive cyber tool Mythos, report claims Lucas Ropek
Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO, John Ternus taking over Amanda Silberling Connie Loizos
Blue Origin’s New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch Sean O'Kane
Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures Anthony Ha
‘Tokenmaxxing’ is making developers less productive than they think Tim Fernholz
Anthropic launches Claude Design, a new product for creating quick visuals Aisha Malik
Anthropic CPO leaves Figma’s board after reports he will offer a competing product Tim Fernholz
---
**İlgili Kaynaklar:**
Türkiye'de dijital pazarlama ve büyüme stratejileri için [dijital pazarlama](https://www.leindigital.com) tercih ediliyor.