If Twitter users are noticing any change in the advertising mix in their timelines, it is real. Twitter’s biggest advertiser has gone from HBO’s “House of the Dragon” to FinanceBuzz, a “hustle culture” website that provides money advice with the motto, “we help you make moves in life.”

Brands such as Apple, L’Oréal and Nestlé are being outspent by FinanceBuzz, owned by Buzzery LLC, and Trendytowns Pte Ltd, according to a recent analysis from Pathmatics, the digital marketing intelligence firm. There is indeed a notable change in the dynamic of advertising on Twitter since the new billionaire boss Elon Musk took over in late October, and some major brands started reassessing their willingness to spend on the platform.

FinanceBuzz, which publishes personal finance and employment advice, spent $2.1 million on Twitter ads in the first half of November, which was almost 10 times more than it spent in the first two weeks of September. That made FinanceBuzz Twitter’s No. 1 advertiser, according to Pathmatics. In the first two weeks of September, HBO was the No. 1 advertiser on Twitter, spending $6.45 million, but in the first two weeks of November, HBO spent $638,000, according to Pathmatics. While Pathmatics does not have all available data on how much Twitter advertisers spend and how many impressions brands buy, its data can indicate trends in the market, showing which brands are spending more and which are spending less.

The Twitter ad trends, post-Musk, show that some major brands have reduced spending, while other brands and publishers have picked up the slack to replace them, perhaps in search of easy-to-reach audiences. The trends also show that there is lower spending, according to Pathmatics data, with the top 25 advertisers spending a combined $25.7 million on Twitter ads in the first two weeks of November, compared to $29.3 million in the first two weeks of September. Traditionally, the fourth quarter, with the holidays, is stronger than the third quarter.

Meanwhile, this week Twitter lost another major advertiser, Macy’s, which told Ad Age it paused Twitter ads after last week’s troubles with brand impersonations on the platform.

Crisis of confidence

HBO’s reduction in ad spending could simply be a change in its marketing schedule, after the season finale of one of its biggest shows, “House of the Dragon,” which aired in October. HBO declined to comment on its lower ad spending on Twitter. FinanceBuzz also declined to comment on its massive increase in Twitter ads. Twitter has not returned requests for comment.

What is clear, though, is that Twitter is facing a crisis of confidence in the ad world. Media holding companies have urged clients to be careful buying ads on the platform. Last week, Omnicom Media Group sent a memo to brands advising them to consider freezing all campaigns. Some of Twitter’s biggest advertisers, like Mondelēz, planned to shut down all campaigns.

“It’s not going well,” one top marketing executive at a major brand told Ad Age at the start of November.

Brands had a list of grievances: They were alarmed that Musk slashed Twitter’s ad team, losing top executives such as Sarah Personette and JP Maheu. Brands saw reports of a potential rise in hate speech on the platform, which suggested a weakness in its safety systems. Then, last week, Twitter lost its head of trust and safety Yoel Roth. OMG sent its memo to clients after Musk’s plan to sell blue check marks went awry. Selling the verification marker allowed Twitter users to easily spoof brands including Pepsi, Nintendo, and Eli Lilly and Company. There were fake messages seemingly from those brands, and others, flying across Twitter. Musk had to shut down the blue check sales, but has said he is working to restore the moneymaking plan with $8 subscription fees by the end of the month.

Ashwini Karandikar, executive VP of media, tech and data at 4A’s, said that the advertiser trade group has been in constant talks with Twitter in recent weeks to figure out what’s going on. Brands are looking for guidance on topics they have championed for years now, issues like brand safety and suitability, transparency, and advertising controls in digital media buying. “With so many people and so many executives leaving the company, we have gotten some responses [from Twitter leadership],” Karandikar said, “but what we are seeing on the platform right now doesn’t necessarily jibe with what they’re saying.”

“For brands, for agencies, for anyone who wishes to show up representing a brand,” Karandikar said, “the biggest concerns remain the same, there’s no guarantee about environment, about suitability, about safety.”

To be fair, not every brand has abandoned Twitter. There is a sense among top media partners and advertisers, who have been with the platform for years, that Musk just needs time to get acquainted with the ad world. “There is no surrogate for Twitter,” Linda Yaccarino, chairman, global advertising sales partnerships at NBCUniversal, said last week.

Twitter is a real-time information machine, and marketers use it as a place to showcase brand personalities and talk directly to customers. It's also a site that is highly active during big cultural moments including the World Cup, which starts this weekend, and during the Super Bowl.

Similarly, Translation CEO Steve Stoute said during an episode of Ad Age Remotely this week, that "if you are buying an audience and that's the audience you are looking for, I don't think because Elon Musk bought it and is making modifications to the business, you should hold back and wait as a result of that." 

Musk could bring innovation to advertising that could help calm marketers, and reinvigorate Twitter, even, said Rich Raddon, co-founder of Zefr, a brand safety and suitability tech firm. “I think a lot of marketers that are forward-leaning and forward-thinking would love to see more innovation in this space around advertising,” Raddon said. “That doesn’t mean, by the way, carelessness when it comes to brand safety and suitability."

“It just doesn’t make sense that he would fly in the face of what the advertising industry was requiring,” Raddon said, “in order to support the platform.”

The data around advertisers show that some brands have pulled back more than others. For instance, L’Oréal went from spending almost $250,000 in the first two weeks of September to only $800 in the first two weeks of November, according to Pathmatics. Pepsi spent more in November compared to September, but the data was from before the brand was faked by a blue check troll that tweeted: "Coke is better." L’Oréal and Pepsi declined to comment for this story.

If blue chip brands are pulling back, there are some more obscure marketers that are spending more. For instance, a company called Trendytowns went from a few thousand dollars in advertising in September to more than $1 million in November. Trendytowns runs a bunch of subdomains for niche consumer products, such as Lavanado, which sells tchotchkes and games for the holidays.

Contributing: Jack Neff and E.J. Schultz