Twitter rate limits could undermine CEO Linda Yaccarino: ad experts
Elon Musk’s recent decision to impose temporary caps on the number of tweets users can read on Twitter has raised concerns among marketing industry professionals about the platform’s ability to attract advertisers. Musk, who bought Twitter last year, announced on Saturday that the limits were intended to discourage excessive data scraping and system manipulation. However, users quickly discovered that these restrictions prevented them from accessing tweets, including those from corporate advertisers. The move has created an additional challenge for Linda Yaccarino, the new CEO of Twitter, who has been working to repair relationships with advertisers that had pulled away from the platform under Musk’s leadership.
Industry experts have expressed their dissatisfaction with the caps, suggesting that they further erode user and advertiser trust in the platform. Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester, described the limits as “remarkably bad” and argued that Yaccarino cannot reverse the advertiser trust deficit based solely on her industry credibility. Lou Paskalis, founder of advertising consultancy AJL Advisory, added that Yaccarino represents Musk’s last opportunity to salvage ad revenue and the company’s value, and this recent move indicates that he is incapable of allowing her to do so.
Under the new caps, unverified accounts were originally limited to 600 posts per day, while new unverified accounts were restricted to 300. Verified accounts, on the other hand, could read up to 6,000 posts per day, according to Musk’s initial announcement. However, just hours later, Musk increased the cap for verified users to 10,000 posts per day, while unverified users were raised to 1,000 posts per day and new unverified users were given a limit of 500 posts per day. Twitter has yet to comment on the duration of these restrictions.
The consequences of these viewing limits could be catastrophic for Twitter’s ad business, said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. She added that convincing advertisers to return to the platform is already a difficult task, and the recent restrictions only make it harder. Olivia Wedderburn, an executive at creative agency TMW Unlimited, even advised her clients to stop investing in Twitter altogether, citing the platform’s alienation of highly engaged users as the primary reason for this decision.
Musk’s decision to impose these limits comes shortly after Twitter implemented a requirement for users to log into their accounts to view tweets, a measure aimed at combating data scraping. Musk referred to this as a “temporary emergency measure” in response to his dissatisfaction with AI firms using Twitter’s data to train their language models. Platforms like Reddit and major news media organizations have also expressed concerns about AI companies utilizing their information without compensation. While the limits on tweet viewing appear to be effective in blocking third parties and search engines from data scraping, Kai-Cheng Yang, a researcher at Indiana University, suggests that sophisticated and less efficient methods may still exist.
FAQs:
Q: Why did Elon Musk impose caps on how many tweets users can read on Twitter?
A: Musk imposed the caps to discourage excessive data scraping and system manipulation.
Q: How have users and advertisers responded to the caps?
A: Users and advertisers are concerned that the caps undermine trust in the platform and make it harder to attract advertisers.
Q: How long will the restrictions last?
A: Twitter has not provided information on the duration of the restrictions.
Q: What impact could these caps have on Twitter’s ad business?
A: The caps could be catastrophic for Twitter’s ad business, making it even more challenging to convince advertisers to return to the platform.
Q: How did the caps on tweet viewing come after Twitter’s requirement for users to log into their accounts?
A: The caps were implemented as a response to Musk’s dissatisfaction with AI firms using Twitter’s data to train their language models and were preceded by the requirement for logged-in access to view tweets.
Q: Are the viewing limits effective in blocking data scraping?
A: The limits appear to block third parties and search engines from data scraping, although more sophisticated methods may still exist.
Ad experts warn that Twitter rate limits may undermine the effectiveness of CEO Linda Yaccarino.
Elon Musk’s recent decision to impose limitations on Twitter usage has raised concerns among marketing industry professionals regarding the impact it may have on attracting advertisers. Musk announced over the weekend that Twitter would be restricting the number of tweets users can read per day in order to discourage excessive data scraping and system manipulation. However, users quickly discovered that these limitations prevented them from viewing any tweets, including those from corporate advertisers. This move has presented a significant obstacle for new CEO Linda Yaccarino, who has been working to repair relationships with advertisers that were previously strained after Musk acquired Twitter last year.
Industry veterans have expressed their criticism of Musk’s decision, stating that it further exacerbates the existing lack of trust among users and advertisers, and undermines Yaccarino’s efforts to rebuild credibility. Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester, described the limitations as “remarkably bad” for both users and advertisers who have already been shaken by the “chaos” that Musk has brought to the platform. Yaccarino, who was appointed as CEO last month, is seen as the last hope for salvaging ad revenue and restoring the company’s value. However, this latest move by Musk signals to the industry that he is unable to empower her to address these challenges.
Under the new limitations, unverified accounts were initially restricted to 600 posts per day, with new unverified accounts limited to 300. Verified accounts were allowed to read up to 6,000 posts per day, as stated by Musk in a recent tweet. However, he later increased the cap to 10,000 posts per day for verified users, 1,000 posts per day for unverified users, and 500 posts per day for new unverified users. The duration of these restrictions and any potential changes to them have not been addressed by Twitter.
The implications of these limitations on ad revenue could be catastrophic, according to Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. She believes it will be even more challenging to convince advertisers to return to the platform, as Twitter is already facing difficulties in attracting them. Olivia Wedderburn, an executive at creative agency TMW Unlimited, has even advised her clients to cease investing in Twitter immediately, noting that the platform is turning away highly engaged users, which is the primary reason advertisers choose to advertise on Twitter.
These limitations were implemented shortly after Twitter implemented a requirement for users to log into their accounts in order to view tweets. Musk referred to this as a “temporary emergency measure” aimed at combating data scraping. Previously, Musk expressed dissatisfaction with AI firms such as OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, for utilizing Twitter’s data to train their language models. Other platforms, including Reddit and major news media organizations, have also raised concerns about AI companies using their data without compensation. While the limitations appear to be effective in blocking third parties, including search engines, from scraping Twitter data, some researchers believe that more sophisticated methods may still be employed.
In conclusion, Musk’s decision to impose limitations on Twitter usage has raised concerns among marketing industry professionals regarding its impact on attracting advertisers. This move has presented a significant obstacle for CEO Linda Yaccarino, who is working to repair relationships with advertisers. The limitations have been criticized for exacerbating the lack of trust among users and advertisers and further undermining Yaccarino’s efforts. The duration of these restrictions and any potential changes to them remain unclear, leaving advertisers uncertain about the future of Twitter’s ad business.