X, the social media business formerly known as Twitter, X lose up to $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year as dozens of large brands suspended their marketing efforts following Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory earlier this month.
Internal documents obtained by The New York Times this week reveal that the company is in a more precarious position than previously thought and that concerns about Mr. Elon Musk and the platform have spread far beyond companies such as IBM, Apple, and Disney, which paused their advertising campaigns on X last week.
The records identify over 200 ad units from firms such as Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft, all of whom have suspended or are considering suspending their ads on the social network.
The records are from X’s sales team and are intended to track the impact of all advertising pauses this month, including those by companies that have already paused and others that may do so. They state how much ad revenue X workers believe the company will lose if advertisers do not return by the end of the year.
X claimed in a statement on Friday that $11 million in revenue was in danger, with the actual sum fluctuating as some advertisers returned to the site and others upped spending.
According to the corporation, the statistics seen by The Times were either out of date or were part of an internal risk assessment exercise.
The ad freezes occur during the last three months of the year, which is generally the social media company’s best quarter as advertisers conduct holiday campaigns for events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
In the last three months of 2021 — the last year the firm released fourth-quarter numbers before Mr. Musk took over — the company earned $1.57 billion in sales, with advertising accounting for over 90% of that total.
Some firms have been cautious about advertising on Twitter since Mr. Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the network last year, concerned about Mr. Musk’s behavior and content moderation policies, which have resulted in an increase in inflammatory and abusive content.
Also read: Elon Musk’s $44 Billion Twitter Takeover Case Study
Advertising on the platform in the United States is down nearly 60% this year, leading the company to try to attract back advertisers in a drive led by its CEO, Linda Yaccarino. X is also encouraging advertisers to return during the holiday season in order to make up for income losses earlier in the year.
However, the documents show that things have not gone as planned. More than 100 firms are indicated to have “fully paused” their advertisements, while dozens more are classified as “at risk.” Many individuals hesitated on or after Nov. 15, when Mr. Elon Musk stated in a post on X that the conspiracy theory that Jewish people backed minority immigration to supplant white populations was “the actual truth.”
Also read: Elon Musk claims he purchased Twitter to save humanity from a “zombie apocalypse.”
Outcast’s vice president of digital marketing and social media, Leesha Anderson, said clients gradually stopped spending on X after Mr. Musk took over and had discovered alternatives on sites including as LinkedIn and TikTok.
“In today’s dynamic marketplace, brands have a plethora of platform choices at their disposal for precise audience targeting,” she went on to say.
“Therefore, it is imperative for the stewards and proprietors of social platforms to exercise deliberate discretion in all aspects, be it their personal beliefs or political stances, as these choices will inevitably undergo public scrutiny.”
According to the records, the firms who have suspended their ads on X span from political campaigns to fast food chains to internet behemoths. Airbnb, for example, paused over $1 million in advertising, while Uber reduced over $800,000 in advertising, pausing efforts in both domestic and foreign markets. Both IT firms declined to comment.
Other major brands, such as Jack in the Box, Coca-Cola, and Netflix, have suspended portions of their advertising. According to X, Netflix’s paused advertising was worth over $3 million. Requests for comment were not returned by Jack in the Box, Coca-Cola, or Netflix.
Also read: Elon Musk’s X Fails To Pay US $388,000 Australian Internet Online Safety Watchdog Fine
Various Microsoft businesses have also halted advertising, potentially costing X more than $4 million in sales in the fourth quarter, according to the records, as have Amazon’s book and music units and one Google subsidiary.
The search giant, as well as several other organizations that have suspended spending, like as NBC Universal, have continued to post material on the site without paying X to ensure that it reaches a large audience.
Google and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment. Amazon did not respond to comment queries.
Last Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Mr. Musk’s comment was part of a recent outpouring of a “outrageous type of hate.”
“Whether it’s Elon Musk, whether it’s professors on our college campuses or students that they are misleading, or whether it’s individuals who are speaking out in an antisemitic way on the streets of our cities,” he went on to say.
According to the documents, two days before Mr. Christie’s speech, a super PAC backing him, Tell It Like It Is, dropped its advertising from X. The political fund-raising group’s representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Yaccarino was combative in an internal meeting with staff at X this week. She made no mention of Mr. Musk’s support for the anti-Semitic post and blamed the company’s problems on a report by the left-wing media watchdog group Media Matters, which revealed that ads from companies such as IBM and Apple appeared next to posts promoting white nationalist and Nazi content on X.
On Monday, after calling Media Matters “an evil organization,” X sued the group, claiming that its report, which was published after Mr. Musk’s statement, “manipulated the algorithms governing the user experience on X to bypass safeguards and create images of X’s largest advertisers’ paid posts adjacent to racist, incendiary content.” Ms. Yaccarino has blamed X’s falling ad sales on the Media Matters article.
“Kowtowing to external criticism or pressures is simply not how X will ever operate,” she said in an email to X workers that The Times obtained on Wednesday. “The people at X are staunch supporters of free speech.” We stand in solidarity with people who believe in this fundamental freedom as well as the necessary checks and balances of a healthy democracy.”
Also read: Elon Musk sues Media Matters for saying X put ads next to pro-Nazi posts
Mr. Musk spent time earlier this week honoring corporations that have continued to advertise on X, including the National Football League. The wealthy owner of X used a heart emoji to express his admiration for the NFL. (According to a spokeswoman, The New York Times mainly stopped marketing on the site in early 2023, however, the company’s sports newspaper, The Athletic, has continued to purchase advertisements.)
Mr. Elon Musk also stated that the company would contribute “all revenue from advertising & subscriptions associated with the war in Gaza to Israeli hospitals and the Red Cross/Crescent in Gaza”.
The financing will come from advertisements purchased by charity organizations, news organizations, and other groups that promote conflict-related content.
