If you thought that the story ends after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, and it’s going to be “happily ever after” for the world, then you were clearly wrong. Even after around a month of Elon Musk taking the reigns of Twitter, the story only consists of chaos, layoffs, and a lot of drama.
According to a research report by the not-for-profit media watchdog, Media Matters for America, the Tesla Head (also Chief Twit) has already driven away half of the top advertisers from Twitter. Out of the 100 top advertisers on Twitter, 50 have stopped advertising on the platform. The report says, “These advertisers have accounted for nearly $2 billion in spending on the platform since 2020, and over $750 million in advertising in 2022 alone.”
“These advertisers have accounted for nearly $2 billion in spending on the platform since 2020, and over $750 million in advertising in 2022 alone.”
It also points out that along with the advertisers that have altogether stopped advertising on the platform (as of 21st November), there are seven more advertisers who are slowly reducing their spending to almost nothing. These seven advertisers have been responsible for around $255 million in spending on Twitter and also around $118 million in advertising in the year 2022.
According to the analysis, while some of these have quietly stopped advertising on Twitter, many have openly announced or issued statements that they have stopped advertising. This list includes top brands like Chevrolet, Ford, Jeep, Novartis AG, etc. The “quiet quitters” include Chanel, Kellogg, Dell, Nestle, BlackRock, LinkedIn, etc.
Advertisers grew more concerned when Twitter’s Head for Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth resigned from his position. The world’s largest media buying agency, GroupM also told its clients that Twitter is now a “high risk” media buy following so many controversies and confusion.
Many advertisers have voiced out how the platform’s potential new strategies for content moderation can affect their brand image. In spite of incurring advertising losses, Elon Musk has not stopped with his rash actions like reinstating accounts that are banned, the $8 blue tick, and more.
Musk’s Twitter is seemingly becoming more dangerous and is nurturing a concerning environment.