X poised to suffer ‘biggest recorded pullback’ from advertisers ever

More marketers than ever before are poised to reduce their advertising spend on Elon Musk’s X.

According to Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024 report, a study based on interviews with over 18,000 consumers in 27 markets and 1,000 senior marketers globally, marketers’ confidence in X has declined significantly in the past 12 months, driven by brand safety concerns associated with poor perceptions of the platform. 

A net 26% of marketers have reported plans to reduce ad spend on X in 2025, the biggest pullback from any major global ad platform ever recorded by Kantar. 

Since Elon Musk took ownership, trust in X’s adverts has fallen from 22% to 12%, and just 4% of marketers think adverts on X provide brand safety–in stark contrast to Google, which comes top for brand safety at 39%, per the study. 

X also scores outside of the global top 10 for trust and for the perception of how innovative advertising on the platform is. 

Gonca Bubani, global thought leadership director for Media at Kantar, said: “Advertisers have been moving their marketing spend away from X for several years. The stark acceleration of this trend in the past 12 months means a turnaround currently seems unlikely. Marketers are brand custodians and need to trust the platforms they use. 

“X has changed so much in recent years and can be unpredictable from one day to the next – it’s difficult to feel confident about your brand safety in that environment. Ironically, decreasing spend by marketers on X will make consumers happier with the platform as they come face to face with fewer ads.”

This article was first published in Campaign's sister publication, Performance Marketing World.