• X users are complaining about an influx of low-quality ads promoting crypto scams and AI “undressing” apps.
  • The decline in reputable advertisers on X has made the platform more reliant on less reputable ad buyers.
  • The exodus of advertisers, partially due to Elon Musk’s controversial behavior, has left X with a growing revenue gap.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/sbOxS

  • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I’m calling it now. Even if his aim was to not destroy Twitter from the inside, he will absolutely say that was his goal when it eventually happens.

    People like this never, pathologically, ever, ever admit making a mistake.

    • CobblerScholar@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      He has too much money to give a shit, he lost more money than anyone has literally ever on this deal and he still has more money than almost anyone who’s ever lived. Only way he stops being like this is if he drops dead from the inevitable overdose he’s queuing up for himself

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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        8 months ago

        Eh most of that “money” is actually leveraged Tesla shares. Tesla shares that are overvalued. If he runs Tesla into the ground it’s not actually implausible he goes bankrupt.

        Of course for the billionaires “going bankrupt” isn’t the same as it is for you an me. He’ll still live a life of luxury we can’t even imagine, he just won’t control as much of the economy as he does now. And he can always scam his true believers out of some money by creating a startup promising to to build robot dolphins or whatever (it doesn’t matter he’s a hype man) which he’ll never deliver and idiots will throw money at him.

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Even if his aim was to not destroy Twitter from the inside, he will absolutely say that was his goal when it eventually happens.

      Could that open him up to lawsuits from investors?

          • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Larry Ellison (Oracle) were the biggest backers in the buy out deal. Saudi Arabia’s princes want to keep a tight control on information - remember how they butchered Khashoggi? With Qatar it was probably to prevent any slave labor deaths associated with FIFA from going viral. Larry Ellison probably just wanted all that juicy data, idk, he’s quiet but he gives a lot of money to right wing American causes.

        • Mikina@programming.dev
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          8 months ago

          I though Twitter is publicly traded and has stocks? That would mean that he definitely has a duty towards investors who bought the shares to lead the company in a responsible way, and if he claimed that he destroyed it on purpose, it should lead to a lawsuit from them. But I ain’t no lawyer, only vaguely remember hearing something like that. Or does he own 100% of the shares himself and is the sole investor?

          • efstajas@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            It used to be publicly traded, but it went private when he acquired it.

            Which doesn’t mean he doesn’t answer to any investors anymore, of course. He got quite a lot of assistance with that acquisition.

            • Mikina@programming.dev
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              8 months ago

              Oh, I see. I guess that means there’s basically no-one who can sue him, if there aren’t any investors.

              As long as he can repay any loans and stuff, then I suppose he can do whatever he wants with the company. If, however, he bancrupts it to the point of not being able to pay back anything the company owes, then he should be in trouble. I hope.

  • thecrotch@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    “The fact that X has made it abundantly clear that it has no desire to create a brand-safe environment has only solidified our recommendations to move to growing platforms with better opportunities for organic discovery,” he added.

    This is how you say “fuck you too” in corporatespeak

    • DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      I would personally go with:

      “Some may say that Mr. Musk was a visionary, and further to the road map laid out by Mr. Musk during the Dealbook Summit, our organization is happy to assist with bringing said business forecast into reality.”

      • Past tense on visionary
      • brings up him telling companies to “fuck off”
      • rubs it in that his financial people have clearly told him that this is how Xitter goes belly-up, and that when he tries to fix it, he just makes it worse.
  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    I’m starting to think that telling your customers to “go fuck themselves” may not be a sound business decision.

  • Max_Power@feddit.de
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    8 months ago

    Well he told advertisers to fuck off so they did.

    To me as an average Joe it seems pretty dumb to tell your advertisers to fuck off when they provide a big chunk of your income but hey, I’m not a stable genius billionaire so I just don’t get Elon’s 5D chess moves. Right?

    • Exosus@lemdro.id
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      8 months ago

      What’s much more interesting to me is when Facebook and YouTube told advertiser’s to fuck off? Because it’s the exact same type of ads but people pretend they see Disney and coca cola ads on everything except twitter…

  • gullible@kbin.social
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    8 months ago

    You advertise to your audience. Ads targeting the perverse and the stupid seem perfectly suited to twitter.

  • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    404 Media report[ed] last month that ads promoting “semen stealing” were showing up on the site.

    Wait what now

    • chuck@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Yea this guy is the hero of the thread, I would have just not bothered with the article if it wasn’t for you pointing that line out

    • flicker@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I wanted to see what kind of ads that might actually be since I have zero concept. I do not recommend typing “semen stealing” into Google innocently and hoping for an answer.

      I’m going to have some weird ads now…

        • wikibot@lemmy.worldB
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          8 months ago

          Here’s the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:

          Forced fatherhood or imposed paternity, occurs when a man’s semen is used, against his will or without his knowledge or consent, to inseminate a woman, it includes deception by a partner about their ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy. “Sperm theft” (also known as “unauthorized use of sperm”, “spermjacking” or “spurgling” (a portmanteau of sperm and burgling), refers to a specific form of forced fatherhood where a males semen is collected without his consent. Although the term uses the word “theft”, it more closely falls under a state of fraud or breach of contract. Stealing of sperm in itself without using it for successful insemination is not illegal and is difficult to prove. It usually has no bearing on issues like child support.

          to opt out, pm me ‘optout’. article | about

  • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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    8 months ago

    AI undressing apps you say? AI’s about to make that video of Elon telling advertisers to fuck off a lot more surprising.

    • nymwit@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      “Oh, my God, that’s disgusting! Software that makes naked pics online? Where? Where did they post those?”

  • arc@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I still use Twitter but I have no idea what the quality of ads is like since they’re long blocked. I could well imagine that there is some absolute bottom of the barrel garbage and scams a plenty.

  • Holzkohlen@feddit.de
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    8 months ago

    And it’s only a matter of time until those AI undressing app get banned by law. Good.

    • Snapz@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Wish I could cancel our Netflix subscription for a second time, but fortunately/unfortunately we stopped giving them money when they announced they would fuck around with accounts shared within a family. Eat shit, Netflix

    • saintshenanigans@programming.dev
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      8 months ago

      I find it particularly funny to call it X(formerly twitter) every time I have to mention it.

      Also kind of love how Dubious X is as a name cause I always think it’s a porn site before my brain clicks

  • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Haven’t met the undressing bots yet. But my account somehow ended up in a bot list and I get @ by at least 3-5 crypto bots daily. Quite annoying.