In the past, the World Cup has brought in record traffic and advertising dollars for the site.
Three people with knowledge of the figures said that the US ad revenue for the week was 80 percent below expectations.
In the last three months of the year, the company expects to make less money than it did a year ago because of the economic downturn. Two people said that the number went from $1 billion to $1 billion as the company missed its advertising targets.
Musk has warned that his company faces dire financial straits. Interviews with seven former employees, as well as internal documents seen by The New York Times, show a more complete picture of the financial troubles of the company.
In late October, Mr. Musk took over the company. Advertisers stopped spending on the platform due to concerns about how Mr. Musk might change it. At least one misinformation policy has been dropped by the billionaire. Researchers found that hate speech has gone up recently.
Mr. Musk has either wooed or blasted advertisers. He made a threat last month of a thermonuclear name and shame. Three people said that this week he picked a fight with Apple, which was on track to spend more than $170 million on ads on the social network.
The advertising business has become so difficult that it has begun to offer brands incentives. According to internal documents and three people familiar with the efforts, some brands are only committing to promotions for the Super Bowl, with heavy discounts or clauses that allow them to back out for any reason. GM raised questions about whether the data would be shared with Mr. Musk and his company.
The head of global media at R/GA, a creative agency, said that there hasn't been any level of trust from them with the social networking site. IPG, R/GA's parent company and one of the world's largest advertising companies, recommended last month that its clients stop advertising on social media.
Mr. Musk did not reply.
Advertisers began to express their doubts before he finished his deal. The month after Mr. Musk agreed to buy the company, there were 3,980 advertisers on the site. It had the lowest number of advertisers of any month until October.
After Mr. Musk took charge, the sales and advertising team decided to leave. The two people who were responsible for maintaining key relationships left last month. Two people said that Robin Wheeler was fired after refusing to cut employees from the sales team.
The European ad operations were overseen by Dara Nasr. The company's ad sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were down more than 50 percent from the previous week. The figures for the region have been reported before.
Mr. Musk called out advertisers that paused their spending. He criticized Apple and its chief executive, Tim Cook, on Monday, saying that the phone maker had stopped advertising on the social networking site. According to three people, Apple spent more than 180 million dollars on advertising on the micro-blogging site in the next four years.
The shooting at the L.G.B.T.Q. nightclub in Colorado Springs temporarily halted Apple's product. Major brands don't advertise when there are shootings or disasters because they don't want their promotions to be seen by the public.
Mr. Musk said that Apple's reduced advertising would lead tocensorship on the social networking site. He said that Apple has stopped advertising on the social networking site. Do they dislike free speech in the US?
Mr. Cook and Mr. Musk had a meeting. They had cleared up a misunderstanding. Apple didn't reply to questions.
Ms. Bamford thought Mr. Musk's behavior was out of place. She said that there is no way to shame someone into advertising in a dangerous environment. It's not a plan to yell at people.
Some advertisers are worried that their data might be used by Mr. Musk's other companies. G.M., the first brand to announce that it had paused its advertising on social media, sought assurances that its data wouldn't be shared with the electric car maker. It wanted to keep its information separate from the systems that its engineers had access to.
A G.M. spokesman said that it was important for them to make sure their advertising strategies and data were managed by a competitor.
An ad agency that received a proposal from the company said that it offered some brands incentives to place ads on the service. The proposal, which was viewed by The Times, states that the more money is spent on the platform, the more amplification of ads will occur.
Morning brew reported on the incentives.
They are trying to confirm commitments for the Super Bowl. One person familiar with the negotiations said that the company wanted to be able to opt out of advertising at any time. The company did not reply to the request.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
