Twitter U-S Advertising Sales Sink 59%

Ad sales at Twitter are down sharply from a year ago, according to an internal company presentation obtained by the New York Times.

Advertising sales plunged 59% in the five weeks from the start of May to the start of June, the Times reported. The presentation also showed Twitter has regularly missed weekly sales projections, sometimes by up to 30%.

The social media company has faced an exodus of advertisers concerned about a rise in hate speech and pornography on the platform.

Tesla (TSLA) CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk told the BBC in April "almost all advertisers have come back or said they are going to come back."

But ad sales performance is unlikely to change anytime soon, according to the presentation and seven current and former Twitter employees spoken to by the Times.

Major advertisers, including Apple, Amazon and Disney, are spending less than they did on Twitter a year ago, the paper reported. Ben & Jerry's said last week it will end paid advertising on Twitter due to the "proliferation of hate speech."

Incoming CEO Linda Yaccarino will be looking to improve the ad situation when she takes the helm. Neither she nor Musk commented on the Times story.

Musk bought Twitter for $44B with the promise of installing his values as a "free speech absolutist." The value has fllen to about $15B according to Fidelity's revaluation of its stake.