United Airlines Holdings has joined the list of companies that are suspending ad spending on Twitter, whether by making an announcement or quietly.

General Motors temporarily halted paid advertising on Twitter after the firm's rival, Tesla's chief Elon Musk took over the social media company. The largest US automaker said it was "engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under new ownership".

Automaker Volkswagen also said it had paused advertising on the microblogging website. Volkswagen group covers the VW, Seat, Cupra, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Ducati and Porsche brands. General Mills has also paused their ad spending on Twitter for now.

Advertising giant Interpublic Group has also reportedly recommended that IPG Media Brands agencies' clients suspend all their paid advertising on Twitter for at least a week. Agencies’ clients include Coca-Cola, American Express, Johnson & Johnson, CVS Pharmacy, Nintendo, and Unilever. The IPG recommendation to advertisers was first reported by Morning Brew.

Cosmetics giant L'Oréal was also reported to have suspended its ad spending on Twitter. However, the company said it had not suspended advertising spending on Twitter, denying a Financial Times report that cited sources familiar with the matter. A Reuters story later said that a L'Oréal spokesperson denied taking any such decision in an email.

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Ad sales accounted for more than 90 percent of Twitter's revenue in the second quarter. At a presentation for advertisers in May, some ad agencies and brands were already sceptical and concerned over Twitter's future.

On the eve of the deal's closing, Musk appealed directly to advertisers in an open-letter tweet: "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!... Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise."

Advertisers' uncertainties were compounded when Twitter's advertising chief, Sarah Personette, tweeted that she resigned last week. Her exit follows an exodus of nearly the entire senior rank.

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As per a Reuters report, Musk's team will meet advertisers this week in New York. The report added that a coalition of more than 40 advocacy organisations, including the NAACP and Free Press, sent an open letter to Twitter's top 20 advertisers on Tuesday, asking them to pull their ads if Musk guts content moderation on the platform.

Musk has said Twitter's "commitment to brand safety is unchanged", but that is not helping much for now. And many experts have said that though many brands might not publicly announce pausing ad spending on Twitter, some will go cold on spending and take the wait-and-watch route.

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With inputs from agencies

First Published:Nov 3, 2022 4:16 PM IST