Elon Musk's X at risk of advertiser exodus as trust dwindles, survey shows
About one-quarter of advertisers plan to cut spending on social media site X (formerly Twitter) next year, according to a new survey of marketers by Kantar. That would mark the biggest recorded pullback from any top ad platform, the research group noted.
The findings come as X has faced an exodus advertisers for the past year, with big companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola and Disney removing paid ads from the platform in 2023. Some of those businesses cut spending with X after billionaire owner Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic post last year.
X's ad woes have continued into 2024, with the World Bank ceasing all paid advertising on the platform earlier this month after a CBS News investigation found that the organization's ads were showing up under a racist post from an account that prolifically posts neo-Nazi and white nationalist content.
Jerrad Christan, the Democratic candidate for Ohio's 12th district, also recently pulled campaign ads from X after they also appeared under antisemitic posts.
"We knew our ads were being shown in replies and on profiles, but we had no idea they were being served under these types of accounts or posts," Christian's campaign communications director, Tim Cox, told CBS News. He said that X's ad platform includes an option to limit the types of accounts any organization's spots appear under.
"Our ads' brand safety setting is set to 'limited,' which X says is best for 'brands with strict sensitivity thresholds,'" Cox added. "Clearly, this brand safety tool is not working."
Kantar said its findings are based on interviews with 18,000 consumers in more than two dozen markets and 1,000 senior marketing executives globally.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, X said that advertisers "know that X now offers stronger brand safety, performance and analytics capabilities than ever before, while seeing all-time-high levels of usage."
The company added: "Our brand safety rate is on average 99% as validated by DoubleVerify and Integral Ads Science, which is reflected by the fact that the majority of advertisers are increasing their investment in X, as shown by Kantar's data. We saw a surge in engagement during major events like the Euros and Olympics, where X enabled advertisers to connect with our highly influential and engaged audience during these key cultural moments."
Most trusted platforms
Marketers' trust in advertising on X has dwindled since Musk bought the social media platform in 2022, Kantar said. Only about 4% of marketers told the research group that it believes X provides brand safety, compared with 39% for Google, which has the highest safety ranking among advertisers.
Brand safety refers to employing measures to protect a company's image and reputation, such as ensuring ads don't appear next to objectionable content. The findings hint that X may struggle in its efforts to lure back advertisers, which it has sought to do under X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Kantar noted.
"Advertisers have been moving their marketing spend away from X for several years. The stark acceleration of this trend in the past 12 months means a turnaround currently seems unlikely," said Gonca Bubani, global thought leadership director at Kantar, in a statement.
Bubani added, "Marketers are brand custodians and need to trust the platforms they use. X has changed so much in recent years and can be unpredictable from one day to the next — it's difficult to feel confident about your brand safety in that environment."
Marketers say their top digital brand for advertising is YouTube, while consumers rank Amazon and TikTok as their favorite platforms, Kantar said. Consumers said they find Amazon ads to be relevant and useful, while TikTok ads are perceived as more fun, it added.