Advertisers are fleeing Elon Musk’s X in droves, and the situation is only getting worse

Social network X is facing a massive exodus of advertisers who are concerned about the rise of toxic content on the platform and the policies of Elon Musk, the service’s owner. Only 4% of marketers consider X a safe platform for brands. Musk denies problems associated with a catastrophic decline in trust from advertisers. And the situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.

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Platform X’s advertising business is going through hard times and, apparently, the worst is yet to come. According to new research from marketing firm Kantar, published by Advanced Television, 26% of marketers plan to reduce their ad spend in X next year. As reported by Engadget, the level of advertiser trust in the platform has reached its all-time low.

The Kantar study, based on a survey of 18,000 consumers and 1,000 marketers worldwide, highlights how badly X’s advertising business has suffered since its acquisition by Musk. Over the past year and a half, many major advertisers have suspended or reduced their spending on the platform due to concerns about the rise of hateful posts and other toxic content.

The situation is aggravated by the actions of Musk himself, who openly opposes himself to advertisers. Thus, he advised brands concerned about the problem of hate speech to “go to hell” and also accused advertisers of blackmail. However, as noted in the study, only 4% of marketers consider X a safe platform for advertising. This low level of trust could have global implications for the future of the platform, which relies heavily on advertising revenue, experts say.

X did not respond to a request for comment. The company previously told the Financial Times that “advertisers know that X now offers greater ad security for brands, as well as improved performance metrics and analytics, than ever before, while seeing unprecedented levels of platform usage.”

Recall that X recently sued an industry group and several global companies, accusing them of organizing an “illegal boycott” of the platform.