Advertising X's Revenue Has Fallen Since Elon Musk's Acquisition In 2022

The monthly ad revenue on social media platform X has fallen by at least 55% on an annual basis, every month since billionaire Elon Musk bought the company formerly known as Twitter in October 2022.

The company has struggled to maintain some advertisers since the takeover, as the brands have been wary of rapid changes under Musk's ownership. Chief executive X, Linda Yaccarino, is expected to meet on Thursday 5 October with a loan-giver bank that helps fund Musk's acquisition to detail the company's business plans. This was leaked by someone familiar with the plan.

X's ad revenue fell 78% in December 2022 compared to the same month the previous year, the biggest monthly drop since the acquisition, according to ad analysis firm Guideline, which tracks ad spending data from major advertising agents.

Advertising revenue in August, the latest available data from Guideline, fell 60% on an annual basis. But X declined to comment on this data.

Musk has previously admitted that the platform experienced a decline in revenue and blamed activists for pressure on advertisers. Last month, he accused the Anti-Famitnah League of the main cause of a 60% decline in advertising revenue in the US, although he did not provide a timeframe.

In a statement on Wednesday, ADL said that the allegations that it caused harm to X were false. The organization added that it is preparing to start advertising on the platform "to bring our important message about fighting hatred to X and its users."

During an interview at the Vox Media's Code last week, Yaccarino said that 1,500 brands have returned to the platform in the last 12 weeks, and that 90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to X. He added that X could be profitable early next year.

Musk changed Twitter's name to X in July as part of his plan to turn the company into "aplication of everything" and offers a variety of services other than social networks, similar to apps like WeChat in China. This includes building payment features between friends and increasing the number of video content on the platform.