X's brand safety score on DoubleVerify, a key platform for media advertisers, was inaccurately displayed as below industry benchmarks for over four months, dissuading advertisers from spending on the platform. This error led to a ripple effect at media holding companies, causing them to pull back from advertising on X. X's CEO Linda Yaccarino urged advertisers to reconsider partnership decisions based on the erroneous data, while DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski apologized for the display error and confirmed that X's Brand Safety Rate exceeded global benchmarks.
LinkedIn is discontinuing its Lookalike Audiences ad targeting option on February 29, 2024, prompting advertisers to explore alternative targeting options such as Predictive Audiences and Audience Expansion within the app. These alternatives utilize LinkedIn-specific data sources and may produce better results, aligning with the platform's systematic understanding. The move signifies a shift in LinkedIn's ad targeting strategy, emphasizing the value of its own tools over external data sources, and advertisers who have relied on lookalike targeting will need to update their approach.
Elon Musk's X Corp. is facing a trademark lawsuit from Florida-based social media ad agency X Social Media, which claims that the rebranding of Twitter to "X" infringes on its own mark. X Social Media argues that the use of the "X" causes consumer confusion and has resulted in lower search rankings for its own name. The lawsuit seeks to stop X Corp. from using the "X" in its advertising and marketing materials, as well as damages. This may be the first of many lawsuits targeting Musk's rebranding efforts, as hundreds of companies already use the "X" mark.
