Amazon is set to restart advertising on X, marking a return to the platform after a year-long pause that followed Elon Musk’s tumultuous takeover of the social media company.
The decision signals a shift in Amazon’s stance towards X, formerly known as Twitter, which saw an exodus of major advertisers in the wake of Musk’s $44bn acquisition in October 2022– according to reports from the Wall Street Journal(WSJ).
Brands such as CVS, Mars, and Unilever halted spending on the platform amid concerns over content moderation and brand safety.
Amazon joined the retreat in 2023, withdrawing its advertising budget entirely.
However, WSJ cited sources familiar with the matter stating that Amazon’s chief executive, Andy Jassy, has been involved in recent discussions to reintroduce ads on the platform, as the company reassesses its digital marketing strategy.
What to know
The move comes just weeks after Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s executive chairman, was seen socialising with Musk during President Trump’s second inauguration, an event that drew a high-profile gathering of tech executives, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, and Google’s Sundar Pichai.
- Musk, who now leads the Department of Government Efficiency—a Trump administration initiative aimed at tackling $2 trillion in federal debt—has emerged as an influential figure in Washington, strengthening ties with business leaders.
- For years, Musk and Bezos have maintained a strained relationship, frequently clashing over their rival space ventures, SpaceX and Blue Origin. Their exchanges on social media have ranged from passive-aggressive barbs to overt competition over space contracts. But recent interactions suggest a thaw.
- On January 16, the day both SpaceX and Blue Origin launched missions, Musk posted a Step Brothers movie gif on X with the caption, “Did we just become best friends?”—a nod to the 2008 comedy featuring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as unlikely allies. Bezos, in turn, responded with a message congratulating SpaceX on its launch, a rare public courtesy between the two billionaires.
- Amazon’s return to X comes as the platform attempts to rebuild its advertising business. In response to the earlier advertiser boycott, X filed an antitrust lawsuit against several companies, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, and the World Federation of Advertisers, alleging an illegal ad boycott
Amazon’s renewed presence on X suggests that corporate attitudes towards the platform may be shifting, with businesses recalibrating their approach in light of Musk’s growing influence and the evolving political landscape in Washington.
