Elon Musk's Policies Have Made Advertisers Skeptic On Twitter

JAKARTA - Twitter Inc is now facing a skeptical audience as it showcases its advertising opportunities on Wednesday, May 4 at an event in New York City. Three ad agency executives told Reuters this was because the social media company's plans under billionaire Elon Musk were still unclear.

The chief executive of Tesla, which bought Twitter for $44 billion, has tweeted that the platform should not have ads so it can have more control over its content moderation policies.

Twitter has notified its employees at internal staff meetings and in public filings that its advertising business and other operations will continue normally until the deal closes. But the company can't speculate about the changes Musk might make.

"He's like the ghost of the future of Christmas hanging on all this," said Mark DiMassimo, founder of advertising agency DiMassimo Goldstein, referring to Twitter's presentation to advertisers last Wednesday. "Whatever (Twitter) is saying, everyone really wants to know is how this is going to be in the future."

The social media company earned $5 billion in revenue in 2021, the bulk of it from selling digital ads on its websites and apps.

Most advertisers haven't pulled their ad dollars back from Twitter yet, but are watching closely to see how Elon Musk can transform the platform and his business.

"I wanted (Twitter) to talk about it and talk about it, because there's a lot of curiosity," said Alex Stone, senior vice president of video partnerships and advanced agency at Horizon Media.

Ad agencies and brands mingle in a sprawling event space in NYC before the Twitter presentation begins. One ad buyer said attendees were speculating whether Twitter would joke about a private deal with Musk or discuss the matter more directly.

Buyers don't have to wait long for an answer. "It's been a quiet month on Twitter," joked JP Maheu, VP of global client solutions at Twitter at the start of the presentation. The company announced a number of content partnerships related to presentations.

Twitter said it was expanding its partnership with media company Conde Nast and Essence, which will create video and audio programming on Twitter. E! News will launch a new livestream event on Twitter to cover TV shows like "The Real Housewives," and "Stranger Things."

Advertisers will be able to purchase ad spots running next to videos from media companies. The social media platform said it would be the first social partner to test integration with iSpot, the company NBCUniversal uses to measure video views.

Twitter also announced that Fox Sports will host live pre-match shows on the platform for every match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar and women's World Cup events in 2023.

Sarah Personette, Twitter's chief customer officer, concluded the presentation as an expression of gratitude to the company's advertisers.

“Your partnership makes us better every day. We are very grateful for how you stand with us,” he said.

Jasmine Wang, a media director at Altice USA, said her company pulled its ad spending off Twitter due to concerns about Musk's potential impact on the platform.

Wang said he expected Twitter's presentation to be longer and more substantial and hoped it would address possible changes that might occur under Musk.