‘Twitter’s Ad Revenue Halved,’ Musk Says Finances on Fire Amid Threads Sweep

Last Updated on 07/18/2023 by てんしょく飯

Elon Musk has revealed that Twitter, which he acquired last October, has seen its advertising revenue cut by up to half.

Twitter has begun sharing ad revenue with its creators amid increasingly fierce competition from Threads, Meta’s new social networking site led by Mark Zuckerberg.

In a July 15 tweet, Musk revealed that Twitter is still cash-flow negative because “ad revenue is down up to 50%” and the company also has significant debt.

In April, Musk had explained that Twitter was “almost broke even” as advertisers who left after the acquisition were returning. However, according to a subsequent report in the New York Times, ad revenue in the U.S. in April was down 59% from the same month a year earlier.

According to CNN, more than half of Twitter’s top advertisers have withdrawn their placements since the Musk acquisition. While Musk has indicated that he will work to allay advertisers’ concerns, he has stated that “freedom of speech is paramount.

Competitor Threads is not currently accepting ads and is not in a dispute with Twitter over ad revenue. However, some advertising companies have expressed interest in advertising business on Threads.

Twitter began distributing ad revenue to creators last week in return for displaying ads, and some have reported receiving more than $100,000 (about ¥13.9 million). Mask has revealed that the initial distribution will total $5 million.

However, it is not clear how the posts and accounts that will receive distributions are determined. Some Twitter users have criticized the company, saying that only those with extreme views are receiving payments.

Content creator Rathbone Diviz of New Orleans, Louisiana, told the Washington Post that he believes Mask is “picking and choosing who he wants to have a big voice on Twitter and trying to keep everyone else quiet.

Twitter has brought in Linda Yaccarino, former head of advertising at NBCUniversal, as its new CEO. The policy of sharing advertising revenues with creators was announced a few days after Yaccarino’s appointment was announced.