Twitter mayhem, staff cuts have advertisers bailing on the platform

Advertisers are pulling out of the platform because it is unstable and they are worried about brand safety, according to the report.

United Airlines, General Mills, Volkswagen, Modelez International, and Omnicon are some of the major brands that have paused advertising. The increase in hate speech on the platform as well as the cuts to the support staff on the platform are worrying.

Dirk Van de Put said that there was a risk that their advertising would appear next to the wrong messages.

Molly Lopez, the owner of Hite Digital, a Miami ad agency that manages campaigns for major brands, told Ars that it was more than brand safety that prompted her to stop all of her clients from spending money on social media. She is concerned about the lack of support for advertisers and the fact that fewer employees are looking after them.

Lopez told Ars that bad actors are looking to take advantage of the fact that one of the biggest technology companies in the world could have lost more than half of its workforce overnight.

Lopez doesn't think it's a good idea for clients to store credit card information She's concerned that if there are any issues with ads, there's not a support staff available to help. Lopez said that currently, it's like crying for help into a black hole when you send an email. Lopez has directed digital campaigns for brands for 12 years, and he told Ars that it is not a way for brands to do business.

Lopez said that things are spreading quickly without the checks and balances that were in place before the Musk takeover.

Interpublic Group, one of the largest advertising companies, wrote in an email to clients that bad actors and unsafe behaviors can thrive in a chaotic environment. We don't know if it's a safe place for brands at this time.

Not every brand is leaving the social networking site. L'oreal denied reports that it had paused advertising, a company that makes an HIV drug said it was still running ads, and Musk's company just started advertising on social media.

According to Lopez, the most beneficial brands she has advised are those that have loyal customers. She said that the only brands who have experienced some sort of controversy are the ones who are most at risk of having their reputations damaged. Other brands with less scandal in the past have less reason to leave the platform. Lopez describes one of the brands she manages as a food and beverage brand that was hit hard by the fake account scandal.

Lopez has directed her clients that are pausing ad spending on Twitter to instead spend their money on competitors such as Meta, TikTok, and the like. CNBC said that would happen if Musk took over.