Elon Musk feuds with Apple over Twitter advertising

Elon Musk said Apple has suspended most of its advertising on Twitter and accused the company of threatening to remove the platform from its app store.

The dispute arose when many companies stopped spending on Twitter over concerns about Musk’s plans to moderate the site’s content.

Apple did not respond to BBC requests for comment.

Musk said Twitter was facing a “massive” drop in revenue and accused activists of putting pressure on advertisers.

In a series of tweets Monday, he accused Apple of “censorship” and criticized its policies, including the fees it charges for purchases made from its app store.

“Apple has basically stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” he said.

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See original tweet on Twitter
He went straight to the CEO of Apple and asked, “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”

The social media platform’s owner also said Apple had threatened to ban Twitter from its app store, but did not say why.

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See original tweet on Twitter
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, is under pressure as some companies stop spending.

He said he hopes to cash in by turning Twitter verification into a paid subscription service, but currently the vast majority of the site’s revenue comes from advertising.

The Washington Post reported that Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, spending $48 million on ads on the social network in the first quarter of 2022.

Companies like Cheerios maker General Mills and Volkswagen are among the companies that have stopped spending in recent weeks.

Media Matters, a watchdog site, reported last week that half of Twitter’s top advertisers have stopped their ads on Twitter due to concerns about the Twitter address.

According to the US technology site The Verge, the media agency Apple Omnicom has recommended that the Silicon Valley giant suspend advertising on the platform due to the “safety of the Apple brand”.

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Elon Musk follows Apple’s example
Unit Analysis by James Clayton, North American Technology Reporter.
Elon Musk has discovered who really has the power over social media.

The billionaire is known to dislike being told what to do. However, Apple holds all the cards when it comes to Twitter.

First, as others have discovered, only Apple decides who gets into the App Store. If Apple wanted to, it could prevent Twitter from loading on everyone’s iPhones, which would be a devastating blow to Twitter.

Not only that, Apple can also charge for the privilege of being on the App Store. For companies like Twitter, you can charge 15-30% for in-app purchases.

This charge has been challenged in US courts by the maker of Fortnite, Epic Games. In 2021, the company sued Apple for access to its “walled garden,” as the case refers to the App Store.

Finally, Apple has the right to stop ads on Twitter, a major source of revenue for the company.