What X’s decline really says about ad strategy
Illustration by Nick DeSantis / Getty / Shutterstock / The Current
As X CEO Linda Yaccarino steps down, the real question for marketers isn’t whether she made the platform more advertiser-friendly again. It’s whether X — and in its previous life, Twitter — was ever a truly valuable ad platform in the first place.
X’s ad revenues have remained down by almost half since Elon Musk’s takeover. But the advertiser exodus may have revealed a deeper truth: unease with the platform was already building. For many marketers, brand-safety concerns were simply the final excuse to walk away from a platform that had long underdelivered. Sure, its user base was loud and large, but was that ever enough?
While some advertisers have trickled back — X’s ad revenue is projected to rise 16.5% this year to $2.26 billion — that figure remains roughly half its pre-takeover levels, according to eMarketer.
But ad dollars didn’t just disappear. They went elsewhere. The decline of this once-prominent social media platform appears to have done little to dent global digital ad spend, which has seen double-digit growth since 2023.
Where did the money go?
Even as the media fixated on Musk’s antics, marketers were redirecting budgets toward connected TV (CTV) platforms like Hulu and Roku, short-form video apps like TikTok, and retail media networks, which have boomed in the interim. Open internet players — major streamers and top news publishers — also made substantial investments in their own ad tech stacks. These platforms offer better targeting, measurement and the brand safety that marketers crave.
Many agencies contacted by The Current declined to speak on the record about X, but comments made in the wake of Musk’s infamous onstage outburst still resonate. Some buyers had already moved on.
At the time, media buyers told Campaign US that X was already a “nonessential” platform. “We have a plethora of platforms and outlets to connect with our consumers in more brand-safe environments,” Dave Kersey, then-chief media officer at GSD&M, said. Jared Belsky, CEO of Acadia, added that he had “never been able” to achieve positive ROAS on the platform.
Others made their exit permanent. United Airlines’ marketing chief told Bloomberg that the company hasn’t advertised on X since the takeover. Pinterest, which also paused ads, reportedly decided it would not return, having found better-performing alternatives.
Some brands did return, but more cautiously. Verizon reportedly pledged to spend at least $10 million on X this year, a fraction of the $80 million it spent pre-takeover. Publicis, while agreeing to spend double what it spent last year, reportedly did so largely to chase NFL and NBA highlights that X secured from the leagues.
Still, deciding when to abandon a platform is rarely straightforward. “On one hand, you have the sunk-cost fallacy that prevents abandonment. On the other hand, you probably have a library of tangible proof and learnings about why the touchpoint worked in the past, which makes it a safer bet than trying something new,” says Alex Turtschan, director of innovation at Mediaplus Group.
But X’s ongoing ad revenue slump suggests something deeper: When a platform is seen as a potential liability to brand equity, advertisers tend to walk away and not look back.
What the future holds for X
For those still weighing a return, the decision may soon be out of their hands. Speculation is swirling that the company could bow out of advertising altogether.
After its acquisition by Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, the platform’s real value may lie not in ads but in data — fuel for training chatbots like Grok.
Whether a new CEO for X is coming remains unclear. But the broader lesson learned from the rise and fall of a platform — a key online gathering point over its 19-year history — may already be clear to marketers. In today’s fragmented media environment, consistent brand presence across an omnichannel media landscape matters more than mass reach on any single platform.
“We see a much deeper shift towards ‘mosaic’ brand-building and executing a concept or idea across dozens of micro-touchpoints in earned, owned and paid media, collaborations and events,” Turtschan says. “The important question here is: How much control are you willing — and able — to give up?”