>
Top brands are stopping advertising on Twitter because they fear public backlash, the British media boss claims
Top brands will no longer advertise on Twitter because they fear public backlash, a leading British media executive claimed.
Nick Waters, head of Ebiquity, the Aim-listed company that advises brands on how to spend advertising budgets, said most of its clients have left the social media platform since Elon Musk bought it for £38bn in October.
“I can hardly think of a customer of ours who has supported Twitter with this,” he said.
Nick Waters, head of Ebiquity, said most of his clients have left the social media platform since Elon Musk (pictured) bought it for £38bn in October
He said the main advice from ad agencies was to cut all ties until there is more clarity on content moderation on the site amid fears over what lax rules could do to brand reputation.
Advertising giant Omnicom, which represents 5,000 companies including McDonald’s, Apple and Pepsi, has told customers to pause promotions on the site, citing “serious risk to brand safety.”
Reports suggest that more than 500 major advertisers have cut spending on the site since the Tesla tycoon bought the site, with daily Twitter revenue down 40 percent from a year ago.
To counter this decline, Twitter is trying to lure advertisers back by offering a Super Bowl “fire sale” deal earlier this month to cash in on what could have been one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the year.
But not all social media companies lose out.
Despite recession fears, Ebiquity, which works with some of the world’s biggest brands, including L’Oréal, BT and Nestle, said social media is much more vibrant than expected.
Revenue grew 20 percent according to Ebiquity’s latest trading update.