According to a new report, Twitter is making millions of dollars from its most infamous users. New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimates that Twitter only uses 10 hateful accounts each year that were once banned for posting inappropriate content on the platform. 19 million dollars in advertising revenue Will have.
This report examines the current engagement of these 10 accounts, including their activities and tweet views. These accounts have been banned in the past for spreading hateful content and dangerous rumors. After Elon Musk took over Twitter, these accounts were suspended. These accounts belong to high-profile people. The group includes people including Daily Stormer founder Andrew Tate, Andrew Anglin, prominent anti-vaxxer Robert Malone and Gateway Pundit.
To estimate the reach and engagement of these accounts, the CCDH analyzed nearly 10,000 of their tweets over a 47-day period in December and January. Based on the data analysis, on average each day, the tweets of these 10 accounts are viewed a total of 54 million times. Considering this average over 365 days, we can expect the visits of these accounts to reach nearly 20 billion times in a year.
Investigating the amount of advertising revenue of hateful accounts
CCDH announced that in order to determine the amount of advertising revenue of these specific accounts on Twitter, it created three new user accounts on the platform that only follow 10 targeted users. The center found that ads appeared roughly once every 6.7 tweets. Then, using data from analytics firm Brandwatch, which estimates that Twitter ads cost an average of $6.46 per 1,000 impressions. CCDH concluded that these accounts would generate a total of about $19 million in annual revenue.
Of course, these estimates do not provide an accurate figure of how much Twitter earns from the accounts of hateful users. But even with this statistic, it’s clear how valuable a handful of hateful accounts can be to the platform. Moreover, the said report shows what benefits this Elon Musk brings to Twitter.
All accounts named in this past report have been permanently banned from Twitter. But Elon Musk announced that the general amnesty will include users who have not broken the law. So all these hate mongering accounts were reactivated. Twitter also recently announced that it will allow more blocked users to appeal their suspensions.
Twitter advertising activity
Twitter’s ad business has taken a big hit since Musk took over. According to Platformer, a number of famous advertisers stopped their advertising activity on this platform. As a result, Twitter’s revenue dropped by about 40%.
The report also notes several instances where ads from prominent advertisers appear alongside users’ hateful tweets. For example, a Prime Video ad appears directly below a tweet from Andrew Anglin in which he insults women. The report also points to an NFL ad that appeared directly below a misinformation tweet about a Covid-19 vaccine.
CCDH writes: Investigations confirm that Twitter displayed ads next to each of the toxic accounts in question; Despite the fact that the people behind them are known for promoting hateful views and spreading rumours.
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