According to statistics from an advertising research agency, advertising spend on Twitter Inc fell by 71% in December, as prominent advertisers cut their expenditure on the social-media network following Elon Musk’s takeover. The latest Standard Media Index (SMI) data comes as Twitter attempts to reverse the advertiser exodus. It has launched a host of steps to woo back advertisers, including offering certain free commercials, easing a restriction on political advertising, and giving businesses more control over the placement of their adverts.
According to the SMI data, ad spending on Twitter in November fell 55% from last year despite these months traditionally being a time of higher ad spending as brands promote their products during the holiday season.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Most of the companies had stopped spending in November, estimates by another research firm Pathmatics showed, the same month that Musk restored suspended accounts and released a paid account verification that resulted in scammers impersonating corporations.
Fourteen of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter stopped all advertising on the platform after Musk took charge on Oct. 27, according to the Pathmatics estimates.
In a November event on Twitter Spaces, Musk addressed the issue of companies pausing ads and said that he understands if advertisers “want to give it a minute.”
Around the same time, Musk had also blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers to pull ads on social media platform. Ad sales account for about 90% of Twitter’s revenue.
Twitter’s fourth-quarter revenue fell about 35% year over year due to a slump in advertising, technology-focused publication the Information reported, citing details shared by a top Twitter ad executive at a staff meeting last week.
