Some of Twitter's Biggest Advertisers Have Bailed

It's probably not a huge surprise to learn that advertisers are leery about pushing their products on Twitter amid the recent chaos. But a Washington Post analysis makes clear just how bad the problem is becoming for Elon Musk. Dozens of firms that have been some of Twitter's top advertisers have gone AWOL in recent weeks, per the Post, including Jeep, Mars candy, Merck, Kellogg, and Verizon. In all, the analysis—based on Pathmatics' data—finds that a third of Twitter's top 100 marketers have been absent from the site over the last two weeks.

The trend is especially painful for Twitter because, as Reuters points, the site still pulls in 90% of its revenue from digital ads. As Musk continues to court controversy with his moves and tweets, civil rights activists and other critics are pressuring advertisers to steer clear. "In less than three weeks Musk has gone back on every promise he made to civil rights leaders and advertisers," Jessica Gonzalez of media and democracy group Free Press tells Reuters. The pressure is evidently working, with top ad agencies advising their clients to stay off the platform—Omnicom Media Group being one recent example, per the Verge. (More Twitter stories.)