Is Twitter considering charging business users?

    
Twitter’s ongoing search for ways to monetise the service and generate an income may include charging corporate users for the privilege of sending out their tweets.
That’s according to co-founder Biz Stone, speaking recently to Marketing magazine. “We are noticing more companies using Twitter and individuals following them. We can identify ways to make this experience even more valuable and charge for commercial accounts,” he said.
A small sample of companies au fait with Twitter gave mixed feedback to the proposal. While LoveFilm said that it would depend on “price, demand and what else is around”, MD of We Are Social, Robin Grant, said that Twitter could charge for display ads or to access customer information for marketing purposes, while the VP of Dell, Bob Pearson, suggested that the company would look elsewhere if things became “complicated and costly”.
While Twitter is growing in popularity and edging towards the mainstream, it’s not the only micro-blogging service available. Though Stone suggests individual accounts will not be charged, many smaller companies may baulk at having to pay to use Twitter, while larger ones could quite easily switch to another service or rely on other methods of communicating with potential customers.
What do you think? Is this a valid proposal? Should companies continue to have access to free marketing via Twitter or should they pay?