As Advertisers Pull Out, Elon Musk's X Appears To Be In Great Trouble

Twitter, or X as we've come to know the platform under Elon Musk's makeover exercise, is under scrutiny again. Advertisers got spooked after Elon Musk's takoever and jumped ship shortly afterwards. Now, an analysis in October by market research firm Insider Intelligence states that X is currently heading towards a 50% decline in ad sales compared to last year.

Reuters

Why advertisers are spooked again

As TechCrunch reported, these numbers represent X's state before Musk posted his agreement with a user's antisemitic conspiracy theories on the platform. After that, more companies, including tech behemoth Apple, have dropped ads on X.

You have said the actual truth

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023

Also read: Elon Musk Offers $1 Billion To Wikipedia If It Changes Name To 'Dickipedia'

A media watchdog called Media Matters for America recently highlighted how ads for tech giants like Microsoft and IBM were appearing next to white supremacist content on the platform. Owing to this, many companies paused their ad spending on the platform. Musk, in turn, sued MMFA for allegedly manipulating the images that show the ads next to Nazi posts.

How X could be affected

"The damage to X¡¯s ad business will be severe," Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg told TechCrunch. "A big-name advertiser exodus will inspire other advertisers to follow suit, and there is already likely a long tail of less vocal advertisers that have pulled spending."

Reuters

Just a few months ago, Musk himself claimed that X's advertising revenue is down about 60% year-on-year from 2022. He blamed the decline on Anti-Defamation League, an extremism watchdog that he also threatened to sue.

Also read: Elon Musk's X Hit With Hefty Fine For Neglecting Child Safety In Australia

In fact, X CEO Linda Yaccarino has been urging employees to create new revenue streams while concerned colleagues are texting her to jump ship and save her reputation, especially in light of Musk's antisemitic comments.

Reuters

This is a peculiar moment for X and for tech giants. Many advertisers are used to dealing with safety concerns on social media platforms, but they're not used to its owner amplifying hate speech and conspiracy theories.

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