Over half of top 1,000 Twitter advertisers stopped spending on platform: Report

After SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took over the microblogging platform, the advertisers began to worry about the safety and stability of Twitter.

Over half of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers in September 2022 were no longer spending on the microblogging platform in the first weeks of January this year, CNN reported citing the data provided by digital marketing analysis organisation Pathmatics.

FILE - A sign at Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. Elon Musk's Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of nearly 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform. The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives on Monday night, Dec. 12. But Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place, according to multiple members. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) (AP)

The data highlights a sharp decline of once a $4.5 billion advertising business for Twitter. According to the data up to January 25 this year, 625 of the top 1,000 Twitter advertisers had stopped buying advertisements. The list includes brands like Coca-Cola, Unilever, Jeep, Wells Fargo and Merck. As a result, Twitter's monthly revenue from these advertisers decreased by over 60 per cent from October through January 25- around $127 million to just over $48 million, according to the data.

After SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took over the microblogging platform, the advertisers began to worry about the safety and stability of Twitter being his plans to lay off the staff and modify content moderation policies. Some advertisers also complained that the Twitter employees they previously worked with had been laid off by CEO Musk which led to a lack of team coordination and caused confusion, the report added.

As per the CNN report, Elon Musk is now attempting to woo back the advertisers by offering a Super Bowl 'fire sale' deal. It is proposed in an attempt to get the advertisers back for one of Twitter's busiest days of the year.

Twitter has also partnered with a third-party organisation "brand safety" which claims to inform the advertisers if their ads appear alongside inappropriate or unsafe content on the platform, the report added.

The latest development came after the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a member of a coalition of civil society and civil rights groups, in its research report raised concerns over ads that tend to be offensive and against the guidelines from banned Twitter handles.

According to the report, HBO spent nearly $12 million on ads in September 2022 and was the top advertiser on the platform. In January it spent just over $54,000. Meanwhile, brands like ESPN, Salesforce and Apple spent more money on the platform in January than they did prior to Musk’s takeover.

Recently Musk said that the previous three months had been “extremely tough", as he was working to save Twitter from bankruptcy. "Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!", he tweeted.