Report Leaked To NYT Shows 59% Drop In Twitter's Ad Sales

In a BBC News interview in April, Elon Musk said Twitter is now "roughly breaking even," and most advertisers have returned. However, The New York Times said they obtained the social media's internal weekly sales projections presentation that allegedly showed a sharp decline. 

NYT said Twitter's US advertising revenue for the five weeks from April 1 through the first week of May was $88 million, down 59% versus the same period a year ago. The report noted weekly sales projections were frequently missed by as much as 30%. 

Adding more gloom, NYT spoke with seven current and former Twitter employees. Here's a summary of what they said:

Twitter's ad sales staff is concerned that advertisers may be spooked by a rise in hate speech and pornography on the social network, as well as more ads featuring online gambling and marijuana products, the people said. 

For June, the internal forecast shows that advertisers are reducing ad spend or have left entirely. The forecast shows that ad spending each week of this month will be halved versus figures last year.

That may be why Musk decided to bring on NBCUniversal's head of advertising, Linda Yaccarino, last month as CEO to restore confidence in the platform among advertisers. 

NYT spoke with Jason Kint, chief executive of Digital Content Next, an association for premium publishers, who said Twitter is "unpredictable and chaotic." He added: "Advertisers want to run in an environment where they are comfortable and can send a signal about their brand." 

And this likely points to why Musk made the move to bring on Yaccarino. She could smooth out concerns among some of the social media's largest advertisers -- Apple, Amazon, and Disney -- who, according to three former and current Twitter employees, have been spending less. 

And it's not just about restoring confidence for mega-corporations. Advertisers, in general, have reduced spending on the social media platform due to "Musk's changes to the service, inconsistent support from Twitter and concerns about the persistent presence of misleading and toxic content on the platform," NYT said. 

Meanwhile, Fidelity was compelled last week to announce that it slashed Twitter's valuation to just $15 billion, about a third of the $44 billion Musk paid in October. 

If the NYT report is accurate, it makes sense why Musk brought on Yaccarino to re-establish trust in the platform among advertisers.