Some advertisers plan to pull back from Elon Musk’s X in 2025 over fears of ‘brand safety’

Elon Musk's X is facing a significant challenge as many advertisers plan to reduce their spending in the coming year due to concerns about "brand safety" on the platform. A report by Kantar, a marketing data and analytics firm, reveals that 26% of marketers worldwide intend to decrease their X advertising spending in 2025. The report is based on surveys with 18,000 consumers from nearly 30 countries and about 1,000 marketing professionals. It highlights that only 4% of marketers believe X ads provide brand safety, compared to 39% for Google. Trust in X ads among marketers has dropped from 22% to 12% since 2022, with 15% of marketers being favorable towards X ads in 2022, compared to 21% who are unfavorable today. Interestingly, the decline in ads on X has led to consumers enjoying the experience more, with consumer ad preference greatly increasing since 2022. An X spokesperson responded that advertisers know the platform offers stronger brand safety, performance, and analytics capabilities than ever before, with a brand safety rate of 99% validated by DoubleVerify and Integral Ads Science. Despite this, the majority of advertisers are increasing their investment in X, as shown by Kantar's data.