How Elon Musk and X's decision to sue advertisers may have just backfired

Source: Mashable

How Elon Musk and X's decision to sue advertisers may have just backfired

By Matt Binder on August 8, 2024

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However, Check My Ads, an adtech watchdog that has successfully taken on hateful websites and ad platforms that serve advertising on them, says that X's celebration is premature.

"Advertisers know a bad ad placement when they see one," said Claire Atkin, co-founder of Check My Ads, in a statement provided to Mashable. "The reality is today’s decision means even more advertisers will flee X, and quickly so they’re not targeted in the future."

In an analysis of GARM's closure on its own website, Check My Ads' founders say that the more likely outcome is that advertisers will now be less likely to advertise on X as they won't base advertising decisions on GARM's recommendation. Check My Ads points out that X was just touting how it was reinstated into GARM just last month.

X posted that the reinstatement was part of its "deep commitment to brand safety."

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So to recap, X had just regained GARM as an ally, and then it filed a lawsuit, apparently causing its ally to disband, leaving — assuming it really was a monopoly — no comparable initiative in existence to recommend that advertisers make deals with X.

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Read more: https://mashable.com/article/x-twitter-advertiser-lawsuit-garm-closes-consequences