Report: X Working To Lure Smaller Advertisers

The social-media site formerly known as Twitter largely relies on advertising revenue from the world’s largest brands. But since owner Elon Musk alienated some of the biggest spenders, finding a new customer base has become critical.

Musk’s relations with brands hit a new low in recent weeks. Major brands stopped advertising on X after a report from a left-leaning media watchdog group showed ads appeared near pro-Nazi content on the platform.

Musk also recently described an antisemitic post as “the actual truth”; told brands that pulled their ads to “go f— yourself”; and accused Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger in a series of X posts of an apparent double standard for still advertising on Facebook and Instagram after New Mexico’s attorney general sued their parent company Meta Platforms alleging the apps steer predators to children.

Disney declined to comment on Musk’s messages. Meta didn’t comment on the specific allegations in the New Mexico lawsuit but said it worked “diligently to protect young users by using sophisticated technology, employing child safety experts, and by sharing information and tools with other companies and law enforcement, among other things.”

Elon Musk lashed out at advertisers boycotting X during an interview at the New York Times’s DealBook Summit recently. The billionaire said anyone trying to blackmail him with advertising money could “go f— yourself.” Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

At the same time, Musk warned that an advertiser boycott would kill the company. He also said his post about “the actual truth” was perhaps one of the most foolish, if not the most foolish, things he has ever done on the platform.

X’s advertising team is trying out partnerships with other ad platforms that might help it attract small and midsize businesses, which has been a key ingredient in the success of tech titans like Meta and Alphabet’s Google.

X has also held preliminary talks about giving access to some of its ad inventory to ad-tech company PubMatic, according to a person familiar with the matter. The proposed deal could help X snag a share of the budget that advertisers earmark for buying ads across the web via automated ad auctions. Talks have stalled but are likely to resume in the new year, the person said.