Apple Is Back With Ads On X After Halting Platform Spending In 2023 Over Elon Musk's Posts

Technology giant Apple Inc AAPL has returned to running advertisements on social media platform X, a move that comes 15 months after the company paused spending on the platform.

What Happened: Apple was one of several companies that paused or halted spending on X after Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform, agreed with and increased the reach of an antisemitic X post in November 2023.

New ads from Apple on X include a campaign showing Safari’s focus on privacy and the Apple TV account running ads to promote the second season of “Severance,” according to 9to5Mac.

The resuming of ad spending by Apple was reportedly coming, according to a recent report. The Wall Street Journal report also said Amazon.co Inc AMZN was ramping up its advertising spending on X.

Apple CEO Tim Cook attended Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration last month, where Musk was also present. Cook was a donor to the Trump inauguration.

Apple and Musk’s SpaceX were recently part of a collaboration with T-Mobile iPhone users getting access to Starlink.   

Are you buying when the CEOs of the Magnificent 7 are selling?

Why It’s Important: Musk’s increased reach of the antisemitic post where he said “you have said the actual truth” in response prompted many advertisers to pull support from X.

Musk later addressed the matter by saying he was being blackmailed by advertisers.

“Go f*** yourself,” Musk said in response.

Apple’s X account has 9.7 million followers and no posts. The account has been used for advertisements and sponsored posts in the past and caused confusion when the account went silent with no posts.

New X financials showed the company has grown its EBITDA while revenue has fallen since Musk bought the company for $44 billion in 2022.

With all major advertisers back on the platform, revenue could improve in 2025 and be a key to the company’s financial turnaround under Musk.

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