Apple is Twitter’s largest ad customer, and according to Elon Musk, it has restored to regular advertising levels – but it’s unclear whether it actually curtailed ad purchases.
On November 28, Twitter CEO Elon Musk launched a tweetstorm against Apple, claiming that the company had “mostly halted advertising on Twitter.” Musk has altered his tune one week later.
Musk stated on Saturday during a Twitter Spaces conversation that Apple has “fully resumed advertising on Twitter.” Musk didn’t say how much Apple spent on advertising, and he didn’t go much further on the subject, other than to say that Apple was the platform’s largest advertiser.
While Musk’s tweet may seem victorious, Apple has yet to make a formal statement on the topic.
On November 30, Media Matters for America presented statistics that appeared to show Apple’s expenditure had increased since Musk took over. While there was a decrease between November 8 and November 21, it was not complete.
Nonetheless, it was reported that Apple’s daily spend on November 28 was $84,615.70, which was 2.6 times the amount spent the previous month.
Meanwhile, internal documents obtained by the Washington Post on November 28 back up Musk’s assertion that Apple is the biggest advertiser, with $48 million spent in the first quarter, accounting for more than 4% of sales. However, this may easily be interpreted as increased seasonal expenditure owing to Christmas sales, which might be significantly higher than the rest of the year.
Musk’s remarks are a continuation of his prior retraction. Since his outburst, Musk has visited Apple Park, which is hosted by Apple CEO Tim Cook, and later stated that Apple never intended to remove Twitter from the App Store.
