Elon Musk’s X sees significant decline in ad sales in 2023, as advertisers flee controversial platform
- The site made US$600 million in ad revenue in each of the first three quarters of 2023, down from US$1 billion per quarter in 2022, sources say
- The company will fall far short of its advertising and subscription revenue target of US$3 billion this year, one person say
Elon Musk’s X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, is on track to bring in roughly US$2.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2023 – a significant slump from prior years, according to people familiar with the matter.
X generated a little more than US$600 million in advertising revenue in each of the first three quarters of the year, and is anticipating a similar performance in the current period, according to a person familiar with the numbers. That compares to more than US$1 billion per quarter in 2022.
Ad sales currently make up between 70 per cent and 75 per cent of X’s total revenue, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. That would imply 2023 sales of roughly US$3.4 billion, including sales from subscriptions and data licensing deals.
The previously unreported sales figures underscore with greater clarity advertisers’ unease with how X is handling content moderation under Musk, and in particular the new owner’s posts that amplify antisemitic and other extremist views.
X executives had originally targeted US$3 billion in revenue from advertising and subscriptions in 2023, but will fall far short of that number, one of the people said. The annual number is still in flux because the holiday quarter is not yet over.
