Elon Musk’s X Faces Potential $75 Mln Ad Revenue Loss Amid Major Brands Exiting
Following Elon Musk’s most recent antisemitic content conspiracy chronicle, tech giants such as Microsoft, Airbnb, and Coca-Cola have recently amassed significant attention within the industry as they seem to be eyeing an exit strategy from advertising on the social media platform.
As claimed by the New York Times, this data was illustrated by some internal documents.
X, formerly known as Twitter, recently gained significant attention among enthusiasts within the industry as it went to court with legal filings against Media Matters following X’s antisemitic content saga.
A Closer Look Into The Report
According to reports, the social media platform X could potentially lose up to $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of 2023. The loss appears to come forth as a result of dozens of significant brands halting their marketing campaigns on the social media platform.
The halting of advertising by some of the major brands within the industry comes in alignment with Elon Musk’s recent chronicle orbiting antisemitic content on his social media platform.
As reported by CoinGape media earlier, some of the significant tech giants like IBM and Apple also suspended advertising-related activities on the social media platform X following the display of antisemitic content.
Moreover, recent internal records reviewed by The New York Times reveal that the company faces greater challenges than previously disclosed. Worries about Musk and the platform extend well beyond companies like IBM, Apple, and Disney, which halted their advertising on X last week. The documents outline over 200 ad units from companies including Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft, many of which have either suspended or are contemplating pausing their advertisements on the social network.
However, in a statement on Friday, X mentioned that $11 million in revenue was potentially at stake, with the exact amount varying as certain advertisers resumed activity on the platform, and others escalated their spending.
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X’s Advertising Chronicle To Date
The company clarified that the figures reviewed by The Times were either outdated or part of an internal assessment to gauge overall risk.
The advertising suspensions coincide with the last quarter of the year, typically the social media platform’s most robust period, as brands launch holiday promotions for events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
In the final quarter of 2021, the company, under its previous leadership before Musk’s tenure, reported $1.57 billion in advertising revenue, with almost 90 percent stemming from advertising.
Following Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of X last year, certain brands have been reluctant to advertise on the platform due to concerns about his behavior and content moderation decisions, resulting in a surge of incendiary and hateful content.
U.S. advertising on the platform has declined by nearly 60 percent this year, prompting efforts led by the company’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, to re-engage advertisers.
Despite running ad campaigns during the holiday season to offset revenue shortfalls, the disclosed documents portray challenges. Over 100 brands are marked as having “fully paused” their ads, and numerous others are categorized as “at risk.”
A significant number of pauses occurred around or after Nov. 15, coinciding with Mr. Musk’s statement on X endorsing a conspiracy theory about Jewish people supporting immigration to replace white populations, which he described as “the actual truth.
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