Twitter’s U.S. Ad Sales Down 59% Despite Musk’s ‘Breaking Even’ Claims

Twitter experienced a significant decline in revenue from U.S. advertising in April, with a staggering 59% drop compared to the previous year. During a five-week period starting April 1, the company generated $88 million in U.S.-based advertising sales.

The downward trend continued into May, with Twitter estimating a weekly decline of at least 56% in U.S. ad revenue compared to last year, per Forbes. Globally, Twitter's ad revenue for this year is projected to be 28% lower than in 2022, reaching approximately $3 billion. This decline can be attributed to the departure of major advertisers following Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company last October.

A Reuters report revealed that since Musk took over, Twitter had lost about 50 out of the platform's top 100 advertisers and these 50 advertisers spent almost 20% less in advertising year-on-year on Twitter due to concerns including the increase in hate speech on Twitter and the potential for their ads to appear next to controversial content.

And while Musk had previously claimed that Twitter was "breaking even" and that the advertisers who left had returned in April this year, the ongoing decrease in revenue challenges this assertion.

Musk has since introduced various changes to the platform, including reinstating previously banned accounts, relaxing moderation rules, implementing significant staff cuts, launching a subscription service for verified badges and appointing a new Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino, which suggests that he views successful advertising as crucial to Twitter's future success.