Apple may be considering a restart of advertising on X

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A quick blurb in a larger story about increased advertising spend from Amazon suggests Apple may have considered resuming ads on X, but recent controversial acts by Elon Musk may affect its decision.

White X symbol on a black background with subtle speckled texture.
The X logo that replaced the Twitter blue bird



It seems in the run-up to inauguration day, Apple may have at least considered or had discussions about returning advertising to X in some respect. As of this publication, it still hasn't returned and there is no information about how recent events have affected this decision.

The one-liner can be found in a Wall Street Journal report about Amazon increasing ad spend on X. Apple and other big tech companies paused ad spend in November 2023 after CEO Elon Musk promoted a post directed at the US Jewish community.

The post said "Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them." Musk responded "You have said the actual truth."

Since then, users have flocked to other platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky, with the latter proving to be more popular and mainstream so far at 30 million users. Apple never resumed advertising on X, but maintained its various accounts on the platform.

Musk has continued to be a controversial figure, posting about racism against white people, hoards of illegal immigration ruining the country, and his support of extremist right-winged values. He has been placed in charge of an office that operates outside of the federal government, but reports to President Trump, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Apple CEO Tim Cook has attended dinners with President Trump, ones where Elon Musk was presumably present, and Cook even donated $1 million of his own money to the inauguration fund. It seems likely that during these in-person visits, resuming ad spend on X would have been brought up, and that fits the "recent weeks" timeline of the report.

However, since President Trump took office, things are moving quickly. Apple isn't exactly rushing to appease every demand, as it took a half-measure to show the Gulf of America in Apple Maps, but only when users search for the term.

Apple may have considered, and still may be considering, returning advertising to some small degree to X. Its initial concerns were about seeing its ads appearing near extremist views or even posts from self-proclaimed Nazis that call the platform home.

The situation is even more complex given that since the inauguration, Elon Musk rendered what has been described as two Nazi salutes, which he denies. Musk doubled down on the "joke" by posting multiple times on X referring to Nazis and other extremist leaders in a lighthearted way, including jokes about the Holocaust.

Don't say Hess to Nazi accusations!

Some people will Goebbels anything down!

Stop Gring your enemies!

His pronouns would've been He/Himmler!

Bet you did nazi that coming

-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk)



Musk has also been promoting a lot of anti-LGBTQ, especially anti-trans, content on his platform. It isn't clear how Cook would account for these actions when deciding to resume ad spend.

X is "barely breaking even," according to Musk. After bleeding a lot of active users due to repeat controversies, the platform is clearly struggling to find its footing as the "global town square."

Time will tell what actions Apple and CEO Tim Cook take. It may decide that such controversies aren't enough to stop them from showing ads, or perhaps they'll sit it out and hope no one pushes back since companies like Amazon are making up the difference.



Read on AppleInsider

CaptSeymour
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    Please don't
    Japheymacnavarradanoxwatto_cobraWesley Hilliardronngrandact73sroussey2avidthinkerrob53
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  • Reply 2 of 33
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    danoxWesley Hilliardxyzzy-xxxronngrandact73sroussey2stompyAulaniKramTurnerdavgreg
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  • Reply 3 of 33
    Wesley Hilliardwesley hilliard Posts: 361member, administrator, moderator, editor
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    It's the truth. If there's anything here that is incorrect, please feel free to email us and let us know. X is a controversial platform and Musk is a controversial figure. Apple considering bringing back advertising to the platform is heavily dependent on what's going on with the platform and the owner. It is all relevant and not a "hit piece" or "political diatribe."

    We don't shy away from the truth at AppleInsider. We hope our readers do the same.
    watto_cobraronngrandact73avidthinkerAulaniKramTurnertiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjCaptSeymour
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  • Reply 4 of 33
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,510member
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    Saluting kinda changes that doesn’t it? Most people who have an interest in tech would like to stay in bounds however, Elon and the other guy make it impossible.
    edited January 30
    watto_cobraxyzzy-xxxgrandact73KramTurnertiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjCaptSeymourmarklarkrolling musubi
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  • Reply 5 of 33
    Mike Wuerthelemike wuerthele Posts: 6,956administrator
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    There's no "political diatribe" in this piece, and it is, in fact, very neutral.
    avidthinkerKramTurnertiredskillsmaasjibillbeowulfschmidtCesar Battistini MazierojSnivelybadmonkrolling musubi
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  • Reply 6 of 33
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,551member
    Given most of the ads they pay for on X will be served up to bots what could the ROI possibly be.

    Still, I guess it shows there has been enough market fragmentation that any high value customers have left X. To consider going back to a culture context that has gotten more aggressive and insular. 
    stompyKramTurnerCaptSeymourjSnively
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  • Reply 7 of 33
    jonyojonyo Posts: 120member
    I've been seeing this all over for many years now:
    1. Public is not liking thing B.
    2. Company A wants to not tarnish its brand, so it cuts it's relation to thing B
    3. The media cycle moves on, public discussion moves to other things
    4. Company A quietly reestablishes relationship with thing B for money reasons, figuring that brand issues are less likely now that public attention is elsewhere.

    I for one would like if Apple would continue to have no relationship with X at all going forward, whether it be advertising or anything else. I would love to see X starved of revenue and fall in value, and eventually become irrelevant as far as public discourse. The only way it'll happen is people vote by cutting their usage of X. That's fair market action, people are allowed to not use your goods/services for any reason they want, including things that have nothing to do with the good/service itself or it's price, you either compete in that arena that includes public sentiment, or you don't.

    I'm just saying that's how it so often seems to go with companies' responses to public outcry over some non-monetary event, whether a one-time event or a change spread out over time. The world is just too complicated for people to hold their attention on a million things at once.
    foregoneconclusionronnCaptSeymour
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  • Reply 8 of 33
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    It's the truth. If there's anything here that is incorrect, please feel free to email us and let us know. X is a controversial platform and Musk is a controversial figure. Apple considering bringing back advertising to the platform is heavily dependent on what's going on with the platform and the owner. It is all relevant and not a "hit piece" or "political diatribe."

    We don't shy away from the truth at AppleInsider. We hope our readers do the same.

    Of course by politically neutral you mean left-wing, when you say anti-transgender views if you wanted to say the truth you could have said controversial views on transgender issues, it's not anti-transgender whatsoever to say a man is a man and a woman's is a woman, it's an opinion so fact doesn't come into this whatsoever, I suppose my point is that as much as I completely disagree with Elon Musk, I could provide you with several examples where appleInsider  just gets it wrong politically, especially when it comes to cover the UK, that aside you guys do great work and I try to ignore the unconscious bias that you guys clearly have
    Cesar Battistini MazieroronntiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjAppleishCaptSeymourjSnivelyMike Wuerthelevesalius
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  • Reply 9 of 33
    F**k those Nazi pricks, they don't deserve one red cent.
    Cesar Battistini MazieroKramTurnerronntiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjvesaliusmarklarkbadmonk
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  • Reply 10 of 33
    Please do! 

    People calling musk a nazi just reinforce the point of freedom of speech. 

    People got manipulated by the big media. 

    X is the new news. 
    ronntiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjavidthinkeribilldewmeCaptSeymourMike Wuerthelevesalius
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  • Reply 11 of 33
    Wesley Hilliardwesley hilliard Posts: 361member, administrator, moderator, editor
    yconner said:
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    It's the truth. If there's anything here that is incorrect, please feel free to email us and let us know. X is a controversial platform and Musk is a controversial figure. Apple considering bringing back advertising to the platform is heavily dependent on what's going on with the platform and the owner. It is all relevant and not a "hit piece" or "political diatribe."

    We don't shy away from the truth at AppleInsider. We hope our readers do the same.

    Of course by politically neutral you mean left-wing, when you say anti-transgender views if you wanted to say the truth you could have said controversial views on transgender issues, it's not anti-transgender whatsoever to say a man is a man and a woman's is a woman, it's an opinion so fact doesn't come into this whatsoever, I suppose my point is that as much as I completely disagree with Elon Musk, I could provide you with several examples where appleInsider  just gets it wrong politically, especially when it comes to cover the UK, that aside you guys do great work and I try to ignore the unconscious bias that you guys clearly have
    This is where things get tricky, what you've attributed to opinion is actually well known scientific fact. Science shows that throughout human history, animal evolution, and every observation of sex versus gender, that transgender/transsexuality is actually something that exists all over the animal kingdom. In birds, amphibians, insects, and yes, even humans.

    For example, there are cases where people are born intersex where they have attributes of both male and female sex organs. The idea that "there can only be two" excludes this entire group of people that definitely exist.

    Doctors that feared that leaving a child born intersex would lead to social stigma and ostracism performed surgeries to assign them one sex or the other. Never giving that child a choice, and often, not even telling the parents it happened, and it still occurs today. Then if that child grows up feeling they are a gender that isn't represented by their sex, what do you call that?

    Being transgender is quite rare (like less than a half of a percent) but it has existed in humanity since homo sapian took its first step. All these people have ever asked is to be allowed to exist. Science supports their existence. And science overwhelmingly states all they need is for us to accept them and call them by what they request, and let the doctors help them achieve their chosen presentation of that gender.

    Calling trans people an opinion, an anomaly, or something that needs to be corrected is no different than saying vaccines cause autism. It is ignoring science, ignoring fact, and politicizing an entire group of people that just want to exist in peace.

    There is only one group of people politicizing their existence, and it isn't the left.

    Our "unconscious bias" as you call it is towards science, compassion, and in my case specifically, believing as a Christian that it is our job to love everyone and leave the judgment to God.

    Your opinion is wrong. Facts prove that. Telling someone they are a man or a woman because it is your opinion changes nothing. That person is what they are because they know themselves, not because of some unnecessary binary modern society placed on sex.

    The idea that there are only two genders and trans people don't exist is actually quite a new idea brought about by Christian puritan colonizers that erased most of the cultures around the world that believed otherwise. One of the first people targeted by Hitler in his rise to power were those that didn't conform with the puritan view of sex or gender. There's a reason why these "opinions" are tied to right wing politics and extremism.

    But I'm glad you enjoy our writing even if you don't agree with the science or facts around trans issues. Being anti-trans is being anti-human and anti-science. It's quite simple.
    foregoneconclusionXedronntiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjapple4thewinmuthuk_vanalingamCaptSeymourvesalius
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  • Reply 12 of 33
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,551member
    yconner said:
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    It's the truth. If there's anything here that is incorrect, please feel free to email us and let us know. X is a controversial platform and Musk is a controversial figure. Apple considering bringing back advertising to the platform is heavily dependent on what's going on with the platform and the owner. It is all relevant and not a "hit piece" or "political diatribe."

    We don't shy away from the truth at AppleInsider. We hope our readers do the same.

    Of course by politically neutral you mean left-wing, when you say anti-transgender views if you wanted to say the truth you could have said controversial views on transgender issues, it's not anti-transgender whatsoever to say a man is a man and a woman's is a woman, it's an opinion so fact doesn't come into this whatsoever, I suppose my point is that as much as I completely disagree with Elon Musk, I could provide you with several examples where appleInsider  just gets it wrong politically, especially when it comes to cover the UK, that aside you guys do great work and I try to ignore the unconscious bias that you guys clearly have
    Opinions based on things that can be shown to untrue are still untrue if facts don’t come in to it and still demonstrate the ignorance of the opinion holder.  But hey that is just my opinion so it can’t be untrue right?
    ronntiredskillsrolling musubi
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  • Reply 13 of 33
    yconner said:
    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    It's the truth. If there's anything here that is incorrect, please feel free to email us and let us know. X is a controversial platform and Musk is a controversial figure. Apple considering bringing back advertising to the platform is heavily dependent on what's going on with the platform and the owner. It is all relevant and not a "hit piece" or "political diatribe."

    We don't shy away from the truth at AppleInsider. We hope our readers do the same.

    Of course by politically neutral you mean left-wing, when you say anti-transgender views if you wanted to say the truth you could have said controversial views on transgender issues, it's not anti-transgender whatsoever to say a man is a man and a woman's is a woman, it's an opinion
    Trump/Musk/GOP aren't just stating an opinion and leaving it at that. They're actively trying to make people who identify as transgender into 2nd class citizens. That definitely qualifies as being anti-transgender. It's the difference between an individual having an ignorant point view only versus the government actively trying to persecute people for their gender identity. 
    rob53ronntiredskillsmattinozmaasjmuthuk_vanalingamjSnivelymarklarkbadmonkrolling musubi
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  • Reply 14 of 33
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,330member
    At this point, I think Apple would be better served to not advertise on X but should start advertising on Bluesky. I don't use either so maybe Apple already is using Bluesky but at this point, doing anything on X or to support Musk in my opinion is not beneficial to Apple's bottom line. 
    KramTurnerronntiredskillsNachtswaermerCaptSeymourjSnivelyvesaliusbadmonk
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  • Reply 15 of 33
    Amen Rob53
    You make the most neutral but ROI point (which may be tolerable to the polarized and tribalist readers)

    My X and FB accounts have long been deleted for those toxic environments.

    Roll on the day Apple opens shop and its news on BlueSky 
    ronnCaptSeymourjSnively
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  • Reply 16 of 33
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,053member
    xyzzy-xxx said:
    Please don't
    Apple is in the business of selling services and hardware - not making political statements.

    To quote Michael Jordan : Republicans buy sneakers too.
    ronnmaasjdewmeCaptSeymourCesar Battistini Mazierovesalius
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  • Reply 17 of 33
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,053member

    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    There's no "political diatribe" in this piece, and it is, in fact, very neutral.
    I think that might be seen differently by many. 
    The simple fact of the matter is that Apple is in business and X has a very large and growing worldwide audience.

    tiredskillsNachtswaermermaasjronnCaptSeymourCesar Battistini MazierojSnivelyvesaliusrolling musubi
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  • Reply 18 of 33
    Wesley Hilliardwesley hilliard Posts: 361member, administrator, moderator, editor
    davgreg said:

    I thought Apple Insider was asking its posters to refrain from political commentary. Then comes this hit piece, ostensibly regarding Apple considering advertising on X, and quickly launching into political diatribe. Come on, you can do better.
    There's no "political diatribe" in this piece, and it is, in fact, very neutral.
    I think that might be seen differently by many. 
    The simple fact of the matter is that Apple is in business and X has a very large and growing worldwide audience.

    Large? Maybe. Growing? Doubtful, especially with millions going to Bluesky and Threads. Even if it is gaining users over time, I doubt it's made up for that loss yet, if it ever will.

    I don't see much of a future for X, especially if it's "barely breaking even."
    tiredskillsmaasjronnCaptSeymourCesar Battistini MazierojSnivelyvesaliusbadmonkrolling musubi
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  • Reply 19 of 33
    If Apple Cares about their customer satisfaction scores at all they won’t. The people who still use Twitter are profoundly unhappy and they constantly feel like they’re the victim no matter what you do for them.

    The only reason anyone is advertising on Twitter is to launder bribes for Musk and Trump. 
    NachtswaermermaasjITGUYINSDronnCaptSeymourCesar Battistini MazierojSnivelyvesaliusbadmonk
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  • Reply 20 of 33
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,251member
    WSJ is a Rupert Murdoch publication.
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