X, ex-Twitter: after Musk’s profanity, company changes tactics – 12/03/2023 – Tech

The social network billionaire supports an anti-Semitic post.

The billionaire accused advertisers such as Disney, IBM and Apple of “blackmail”, who stopped spending on X. He told former advertisers to “fuck off” after suspending or canceling campaigns on the social network.

After Musk’s statements, X is intensifying investments to attract medium and small companies, thus seeking to compensate for the loss of revenue that the owner of X said “will kill the company”.

“Small and medium enterprises are a very significant driver that we have definitely underestimated for a long time,” the company told the Financial Times. “That [era] always part of the plan — now we’re going to go even further with it.”

Already this month, X has been partnering with US marketing startup JumpCrew to outsource some ad sales to target small and medium-sized businesses, the company said.

She added that this increase will now be accelerated, along with plans to develop more subscription and data licensing services.

After Musk’s profanity, the supermarket chain Walmart announced that it will no longer advertise on the social network. In November, several advertisers announced the suspension or cancellation of campaigns, as well as organizations such as the US government and the European Commission, after Musk agreed with a user who stated that Jews fueled hatred against white people.

According to The New York Times, X could lose up to $75 million in revenue because of the anti-Semitic post, citing leaked internal documents. The social network disputed the number to the FT, estimating that the drop was between US$10 million and US$12 million.

The Tesla chief’s $44 billion takeover last year also saddled the company with huge interest payments on debt, worth more than $1 billion annually. Last month, X told employees it valued the company’s net worth at just $19 billion.

A former senior sales executive at .

Such a move would be difficult, the former executive added, as X’s ad offering for businesses lags behind competitors like Meta, Google and TikTok due to a historical lack of “commitment to building a world-leading ad platform.”

Some industry executives said a change in advertising strategy would help, as there are industries less likely to care about Musk’s words, such as sports betting sites. Some right-wing influencers, like Andrew Tate, have pledged to spend millions on advertising on the platform.

However, other industry executives added that Musk’s latest outburst would likely lead to further spending suspensions.

“Marketers have several important platforms to choose from and tend to lean toward those that don’t tell you to fuck off,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Integrated Media, which specializes in digital media investments.

Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X hired by Musk for her high-profile relationships in the advertising world, was bombarded by calls from friends and associates last weekend during her daughter’s wedding, according to several people familiar with the matter. They pressured her to step down to protect her reputation.

On Thursday night, Yaccarino instead sent a company-wide email applauding X’s stance on fighting “censorship” and asserting that Musk shared an “unparalleled and completely unvarnished.”

“Our principles are priceless, nor will they be compromised — ever,” she wrote. “And no matter how hard they try, we will not be distracted by secondary critics who don’t understand our mission.”