Tumblr’s iOS revenue more than doubled after it launched its parody verification checkmark

It looks like more people might be willing to pay to be fake verified than actually verified on social media.

As reported by TechCrunch, new data shows that revenue from Tumblr’s iOS app increased 125% since the company launched the double checkmark fake verification badge for user profiles on the platform, a parody directed towards Twitter, which now charges users $8 per month for Twitter Blue which includes verification.

According to new data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower provided to TechCrunch, consumer spending on Tumblr’s iOS app increased since November 2022’s double-blue check launch, now totaling $263,000 in net revenue. While that’s not a significant figure in the grand scheme of things by any means, it still represents a 125% jump in spending compared with the prior three-month total of August through October 2022.

In addition to the bump in revenue, Tumblr also experienced a surge in downloads of the iOS app since Elon Musk took over Twitter. Other social media networks, like Mastodon, have also seen similar jumps.

Since November 2022, iOS installs jumped 56% compared to the prior three months, totaling 934,000, Sensor Tower’s data indicates. Like several social apps, Tumblr benefited from increased interest in Twitter alternatives following Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. Late last year, a number of would-be Twitter rivals — including Mastodon, GETTR, Tribel, and others — had seen a sizable jump in installs.

Tumblr created the double checkmark as a parody of Twitter Blue, the relaunched paid subscription that gives users on Twitter the coveted blue checkmark. Blue, which costs users at least $8 per month (if they buy it outside of Apple and Google’s app stores), offers users the checkmark, the ability to edit tweets, and more.

It’s currently unclear how many people have actually signed up for Twitter Blue. Elon Musk has also already teased an even more expensive version of the service and even Meta has announced paid verification for Facebook and Instagram.