Twitter could be facing an ad-pocalypse, just as its new CEO takes the reins from Elon
New sheriff in town… Yesterday Elon Musk officially handed over his CEO of Twitter title to Linda Yaccarino, a former head of advertising at NBCUniversal, weeks ahead of schedule. Elon will serve as CTO with a focus on new products. Meanwhile, Yaccarino is taking the reins as Twitter struggles to win back advertisers.
In April, Musk said Twitter's finances were "roughly breaking even," even after more than half of its top 1K advertisers had pulled promos from the app.
Now: Twitter's US ad revenue reportedly dropped 59% between April 1 and May 1 compared to last year. Twitter estimated that sales would be down at least 56% each week this month, The New York Times reported, citing sources.
Content controversy… Twitter's content safety has been under scrutiny after reports that some moderators had been laid off. And last week two of Twitter's key content-safety officers resigned. Twitter's ad team is apparently worried that big advertisers may be fleeing after a rise in hate speech and pornography, along with more “vice industry” ads (like: gambling and weed). During one week last month, four of Twitter’s top 10 US advertisers were online gambling or sports-betting companies. Now some lawmakers are warning that moderation-staff departures could put Twitter in violation of consumer-protection laws.
Where you stick your billboard matters… Companies don’t want to shell out millions to have their ads surrounded by shady neighbors, even in the digital realm. While new leadership may help spark a reputation turnaround for Twitter, the recovery could take a while. Family-friendly brands like Apple, Amazon, and Disney are said to be spending less on Twitter ads compared to last year. This year, Twitter is projected to generate $3B in revenue — down from $5B in 2021.