Top brands abandon Twitter advertising

TOP brands will no longer advertise on Twitter because they fear a public backlash, claimed a leading UK media boss.

Nick Waters, who heads up Ebiquity, the Aim-listed firm that advises brands on how to spend advertising budgets, said most of its clients have abandoned the social media platform since Elon Musk (pictured) bought it for £38bn in October. ‘I can hardly think of a client of ours who has supported Twitter through this,’ he said.

He said the main advice from ad agencies has been to cut all ties until there is more clarity about content moderation on the site amid fears over what lax rules could do to brand reputation.

Advertising giant Omnicom, which represents 5,000 firms including McDonald’s, Apple and Pepsi, has told customers to pause promotions on the site, citing ‘serious risk to brand safety’.

Reports suggest more than 500 major advertisers have paused their spending on the site since the Tesla tycoon bought the site, with Twitter daily revenues 40pc lower than they were a year ago.

In order to combat this decline, Twitter has been trying to lure advertisers back, offering a Super Bowl ‘fire sale’ deal earlier this month to cash in on what could have been one of the biggest audience days of the year.

But not all social media firms are losing out. Despite fears of recession, Ebiquity, which works with some of the world’s biggest brands including L’Oreal, BT and Nestle, said social media has been much more buoyant than expected. Revenue grew by 20pc according to Ebiquity’s latest trading update.