Twitter’s monthly advertising sales have hit a major snag in recent months, a worrying sign given the importance of ad revenue for the company’s survival.
Twitter’s advertising business is struggling to attract new sales, with ad revenue falling nearly 60% year over year from April to May and future projections forecasting further slumps in June, according to an internal presentation from the social media platform obtained by The New York Times.
Although Elon Musk has remained optimistic about Twitter’s future since taking the company private for $44 billion in 2022, advertisers have remained wary about returning to the social media platform.
Still, Twitter’s U.S. advertising revenue between April and May was only $88 million, a 59% drop from a year earlier and hardly enough to sustain the company’s long-term survivability. This is especially the case given Twitter’s frequent sales projection misses and its complete reliance on ads to maintain momentum and growth.
Advertising revenue for the month of June, according to the presentation, is projected to be 56% lower for each week compared to a year earlier.
However, a new captain will soon be steering the ship at Twitter.
On May 12, Elon Musk announced that NBCUniversal’s former advertising executive Linda Yaccarino would succeed him as Twitter’s new chief executive officer.
“Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” Musk tweeted. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops,” he said.
While Yaccarino was scheduled to start her CEO position at Twitter around mid-to-late June, Musk has reportedly tapped her to come on board nearly a little earlier than planned.
“Current view today. Bay Area views coming soon!” Yaccarino said over the weekend in a tweet.
As a former advertising executive, Yaccarino will focus on growing Twitter’s advertising partners and channels and will be responsible for overseeing Musk’s vision to make Twitter the most trusted social media platform.
With 90% of Twitter’s revenue reportedly coming from ad spending, Yaccarino will need to find a way to swiftly attract and secure more advertisers.
A number of top advertisers had paused advertising activity on the platform, including automotive manufacturers General Motors and Volkswagen and media agencies like CBS News, citing Musk’s personal views and candid posting on the social media site,
While both Musk and Yaccarino declined to comment about the sharp drops in ad revenue, Musk asserted that the company was on a path toward profitability. However, early last week, Fidelity reassessed its stake in Twitter, lowering its equity value to $6.55 million, down from $20 million in October.
Meanwhile, current 2023 revenue projections from Twitter forecast $3 billion in revenue this year, a drop of more than $2 billion compared to 2021 levels.