X/Twitter is introducing a new ad targeting feature allowing brands to promote their ads alongside specific creators’ content, aiming to lure back advertisers after recent controversies. In practice, the feature will allow woke corporates to curate ads to specific users, for example mandating that their brand must not appear alongside tweets from conservatives like Catturd or Libs of TikTok.
TechCrunch reports that Twitter is rolling out a new ad targeting option that will allow brands to have their ads appear alongside content from specific creators on the platform.
The company announced on Monday that, “Starting this month, advertisers on Twitter can run ads against a curated list of premium content creators via Creator Targeting.” This gives brands more control in Twitter’s self-serve Ads Manager to run video ads next to videos from their chosen creators, both on the home timeline and on creator profiles.
Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO))
Twitter also plans to add the ability for advertisers to only serve ads on a particular creator’s profile, eliminating the chance of their ads showing up beside unwanted or “controversial content.” In the view of woke corporations like Disney, that controversial content often takes the form of conservative free speech whether its activists like Scott Pressler, information on radical trans and DEI messaging to children from Libs of TikTok, or the comedic flamethrower tweets of author and pundit Catturd. If advertisers specify their ads should not be served with conservative accounts, their ability to make money from the platform will also be severely diminished.
The launch comes after numerous brands paused spending on Twitter last year when their ads appeared next to what they consider offensive material. High-profile companies like Apple and Disney halted their ad campaigns on Twitter in late 2022 after CEO Elon Musk allegedly amplified antisemitic conspiracy theories on the platform.
The new creator targeting feature appears to be an effort to lure back advertisers following the company’s advertising revenue plummeting 50 percent in 2023. Twitter brought in around $600 million per quarter last year, compared to $1 billion per quarter in 2022.
Targeting creators could also help Twitter compete with YouTube for talent. Since launching its ad revenue sharing program in July 2022, over 80,000 creators have posted content on Twitter. Musk has directly appealed to popular YouTubers like MrBeast to cross-post videos, with mixed success.
While the initial rollout focuses on a “curated list” of creators, it opens up an opportunity for Twitter to court influencers and differentiate itself. But it remains to be seen whether brands will actually flock back to Twitter or if recent controversies have permanently damaged relationships.
Read more at TechCrunch here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
