Confusion among advertisers
Advertising leaders have expressed several overlapping concerns about the direction Twitter is heading under Musk, who has his own vision for the platform that does not always coincide with what major advertisers want in media opportunities. Musk’s moderation policies basically amount to free reign for all kinds of speech on Twitter, even if some interpret it as hate speech or misinformation.
Several advertisers expressed concern about Twitter’s reversal on “COVID misinformation,” embracing looser rules, a change the company made on Nov. 29. Then, on Nov. 30, Twitter issued a blog post, in which it stated, “First, none of our policies have changed.” The mixed message about policies changing or not led to confusion among advertisers.
Meanwhile, Musk has spent more time talking about what he dubbed the “Twitter Files,” a reckoning of Twitter’s past moderation policies during the 2020 election that affected how the service handled a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, than he has spent talking with advertisers. Last weekend, Musk held a widely attended Twitter Spaces audio Q&A session to discuss the “files,” and the topic of advertising came up.
Musk seemed confident about the ability to bring advertisers to his side, pointing to a win with Apple, which “is the single biggest advertiser on Twitter, historically and presently, so thanks Apple for fully resuming advertising,” Musk said. “We are starting to see a lot of other advertisers also resume their spending.”
Last month, Twitter almost got into a stand-off with Apple, publicly shaming the tech giant over its app store fees and control over mobile developers. Musk claimed Apple was stopping its ads, too, on Twitter. Then Musk met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and touted a detente.
Musk also blamed activist groups for helping cast Twitter in a negative light by promoting reports of more hate speech on the service. “And they’re not true,” Musk said….
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