Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast. This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, The Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, and I'm your host, Will Walden. If you want uninterrupted episodes of the Elon Musk podcast, please go to clubelon.supercast.com to find out how there's a link in the show notes. Elon Musk's ex, previously known as Twitter, is taking a significant step to enhance
brand safety for advertisers. Starting in February, the company will offer US advertisers more control over the vertical video ad placements through an expanded partnership with Integral Ad Services. Now this move comes after the platform faced criticism for its content moderation policies and the impact on its ad revenue and brand partnerships.
Now, X collaboration with IAS involves classifying all vertical video ad adjacencies to ensure they align with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media Framework, or GARM. The company aims to reassure advertisers that their vertical video ads won't be placed next to harmful or offensive content.
Now this effort is a part of X's strategy to rebuild trust with its advertising partners and the company's recent challenges with brand safety and content moderation have led to a significant loss in advertising revenue.
Major advertisers have reduced their spending on X and shifted to other social media platforms and XS value has plummeted over 71% since Musk's takeover in April of 2022, as estimated by Fidelity. And in an attempt to regain its footing in social media arena and attract advertisers, X is now positioning itself as a video first platform. And the company claims that video content is integral to the majority of user sessions, noting a nearly 30% year over
year increase in video views. However, it remains unclear if this includes all video views or average video views. Now vertical video is reportedly the fastest growing feature on X with over 100 million daily viewers and significant user engagement. And despite these claims, there are concerns about the accuracy of these numbers, especially considering the platform's recent changes in content
moderation and leadership. X is actively expanding its brand safety and content moderation teams too, which reverses the downsizing trend initiated by Elon Musk in 2022. This expansion aims to address ongoing concerns about the platform's approach to managing harmful content and maintaining a safe environment for advertisers and users alike. And despite these efforts, experts remain skeptical about X's ability to attract advertisers back.
The company's recent emphasis on video content, including new formats like immersive video and enhanced video Calling Features, is part of its strategy to become an Everything app. And the platform's claims about user engagement with video content, such as the high rate of video watching in user sessions, are met with skepticism. Analysts and industry experts question the clarity and validity of these statistics, especially given the past discrepancy in data released by Axe and Musk.
The expansion of video content on X is also seen as an attempt to win backed advertisers who distance themselves following must controversial actions and his statements. Now this shift in content strategy reflects A broader effort to diversify the platform's appeal and its revenue sources. Now, XS blog post highlighted a 22% increase in total ad engagements, suggesting that its efforts to make advertising more relevant and impactful are
bearing fruit. However, there's criticism about the decline quality of ads on the platform, with some users noticing an influx of lower quality clickbait type ads. Now, the company has established new partnerships with ad verification and brand safety measurement firms, including Double Verify and IAS, and these collaborations aim to reassure advertisers of the platform's commitment to brand safety following concerns about ads appearing next to inappropriate
content. Now there's a bit of report from Media Matters which revealed inconsistencies in XS brand safety measures with ads from major brands appearing next to controversial content, and X challenged these findings and responded with legal action against Media Matters. The company's expanded partnership with IAS is a part of its effort to bolster brand safety, particularly for its
growing vertical, video content. Now, despite these initiatives, there's continued skepticism about X's potential gain of lost advertising revenue. And experts highlight that while the focus on video content might appeal to advertisers, the overarching issue related to content moderation and Elon Musk's management style remained deterrent to those advertisers. And industry leaders believe that the root of X's advertising challenges lies in his leadership.
Then Musk's actions and statements played a significant role in this. And the platform's struggle to retain and attract advertisers is compounded by the availability of alternative social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, etcetera, that are all perceived as safer and more reliable by marketers. Now, X's recent efforts to promote its vertical video capabilities are part of a broader strategy to compete directly with popular social media apps like Tiktok.
A pitch deck obtained by Ad Age reveals the platform's focus on brand safety tools and efforts to combat misinformation. Alongside initiatives to boost user engagement and AD revenue, the platform claims a significant increase in monthly active users and user engagement, particularly among Gen. Z users. In X's pitch Deck highlights its new immersive media viewer and various features designed to enhance user interaction with video content and attract more advertisers.
Now the strategy for the upcoming holiday season, One of their newest strategies includes a focus on major events, cultural movements. Leveraging these to appeal to advertisers, the platform is reportedly offering significant discounts to entice advertisers amidst efforts to broaden its content offerings, including long form video and also live
streaming. Advertisers, however, remain cautious about XS brand safety measures, especially given the platform's recent challenges with misinformation and controversial content. X emphasizes its commitment to providing a safe and trusted environment for conversation, advertising, and also content. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your
support. If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly appreciate it. It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never miss an episode. And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you caught up quickly. Please, if you want to support the show even more, go to Patreon Stage Zero and please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.