In recent years, the social media landscape has undergone seismic shifts, none more striking than the declining advertising revenues of X (formerly known as Twitter). Since Elon Musk's high-profile acquisition and the platform’s rebranding, advertisers have grown increasingly cautious. With the recent departure of Linda Yaccarino as CEO after joining June 2023, MediaRadar's conducted a comprehensive analysis of ad spend on X since January 2022 to paint a clear picture of this downward trajectory.
A Steep Decline in Ad Revenue
MediaRadar's insights revealed consistent 12-month declines steep since June 2022, with the most significant occurring after June 2024 at 27%:
- From June 2022–May 2023: $2.03 billion in ad revenue
- June 2023–May 2024: $1.82 billion, a 10% year-over-year decline
- June 2024–May 2025: $1.33 billion, a 27% decline year-over-year
Monthly Ad Spend Trends: The Numbers Tell the Story
When breaking the numbers down month by month, the decline is even more stark. All 12 months decreased in 2024 and H2 2025 is following suit.
- January: dropped every year. 2022: $151.6M ➔ 2025: $107.2M (Down 29%)
- February: down 20% from 2022: $130.1M ➔ 2025: $103.6M. 2024 dipped nearly a ¼
- March: dropped every year for overall 34% decline from 2022 to $113.1M in 2025
- April: 2024 and 2025 both down over 20%. 2025: $95.9M
Largest scale backs from 2022 occurred May and June - both down nearly half in 2025.
- May: fell 34% in 2025 to $87.5M
- June: down to $93.2M after a 25% decrease from $124.6M in 2024.
Notably, even months that saw stable or increasing spend in previous years, such as March and April, have been unable to escape this overall downward trend. The chart below visually underscores this erosion in ad spend across almost every month between 2022 and 2025.
The Rollercoaster of Leading Advertisers
Another key insight lies in the list of top advertisers. X's reliance on major brands has proven precarious, with many top advertisers from previous years significantly reducing or even completely halting their spending:
- AT&T: From $33.4M in 2022 to just $0.1M in 2025 (a staggering 99% drop overall)
- Disney: From $27.7M (2022) ➔ $0.5M (2025), down over 98%. The remaining spend leans into its sports brands like ESPN MMA, ESPN, and SportCenter.
- Comcast: From $22.5M ➔ $1.7M across nearly 200 of its brands.
What stands out is the sheer volatility among X's advertisers. For instance:
- Apple, a top spender in both 2022 ($20.4M) and 2023 ($31.5M), reduced its spend to less than $0.5M in 2025.
- Microsoft, another tech giant, increased 41% during 2023 to $11M, dipped slightly in 2024 and then contracted to $0.4M in 2025.
This kind of rapid retreat indicates a lack of long-term confidence, likely influenced by X's policy changes, brand safety concerns and the xAI / Grok association with X as a content and advertising platform.
New Advertisers: A Silver Lining?
Interestingly, the platform has seen short bursts of spend from new, smaller players stemming from the Finance, Media & Entertainment industries, among others. However, these gains have not offset the losses from traditional big-budget advertisers.
While many household names have stepped back, newer or niche brands are momentarily filing the void:
- Robinhood Markets: Increased their X ad spend to $15.3M in 2025, dedicated to their mobile app.
- IG Group Holdings: Up to $12.4M, leaning into spending for its brokerage and trading platform, tastytrade.
- Rock Paper Sizzle: Entered with $10.1M for its online specialty retail shop.
- RedDeer.Games: From less than $50K to $9M in 2025.
- UserInterface: From $1.3K to $8.2M towards the system management and security brand.
- Nordace Limited: Up to $7.2M in bags, leather goods & accessories products.
The influx of smaller, digital-native advertisers suggests that while X's appeal to legacy brands is waning, it may still hold value for direct-to-consumer or performance-driven brands.
Conclusion: A Platform at a Crossroads
The advertising landscape on X is undeniably shifting. With overall ad revenue shrinking by nearly 35% over three years, and the majority of top global brands scaling back their investments, X faces an uphill battle to regain advertiser trust and stabilize its revenue streams.
While new and emerging advertisers offer some hope, the platform's long-term viability as a top-tier advertising destination remains in question. To reverse the trend, X will need not only to attract fresh advertisers but also to rebuild relationships with the marquee brands that once formed the backbone of its ad business.
