Just earlier this week, Elon Musk’s declare It is suing members of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative.
On Thursday, just days after X filed a federal antitrust lawsuit, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), the organization behind GARM, announced it was disbanding GARM. WFA and several companies are named defendants in the lawsuit, not GARM itself.
X claims in the lawsuit that the WFA and some of its major advertising members “conspired” to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”
After the news was announced, X CEO Linda Yaccarino took the stage to celebrate the end of GARM. However, at least one ad tech watchdog claims this could actually be counterproductive for X.
GARM Close
According to a letter sent by WFA to its members, first reported business insiderdue to X’s lawsuit, the group is “terminating” GARM because the program is a non-profit organization with limited resources. The GARM program, designed to help members avoid advertising on harmful websites, has only two full-time employees.
However, the WFA will continue to challenge X’s proceedings and say they have not committed any wrongdoing.
X used the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee report in its lawsuit, regarded as GARM’s closure is “a major victory for the First Amendment.”
Mix and match speed of light
Tweet may have been deleted
X CEO Linda Yaccarino cited the House Judiciary Committee’s post in her own response.
“No small group should be able to have a monopoly on monetizing something,” Yacarino said. “This is an important recognition and a necessary step in the right direction. I hope this means that reform of the entire ecosystem is coming.”
Mashable contacted X for comment. In response, X emailed a link to Linda Yaccarino’s statement.
Not so fast, X
However, ad tech watchdog Check My Ads, which has successfully taken on hate sites and ad platforms that serve ads on them, said X’s celebrations were premature.
“Advertisers know an ad is in a bad position as soon as they see it,” Check My Ads co-founder Claire Atkin said in a statement provided to Mashable. “The reality is that today’s decision means more advertisers will flee X, And quickly so they won’t be targeted in the future.”
in a analyze After GARM shut down its site, the founders of Check My Ads said the more likely outcome is that advertisers are now less likely to advertise on X because they won’t make advertising decisions based on GARM’s recommendations. Check my ads point out X just Tout How it was restored to GARM last month.
X said the reinstatement was part of its “unwavering commitment to brand safety.”
Tweet may have been deleted
To recap, X just regained GARM as an ally and then it filed a lawsuit that apparently led to the disbandment of its ally, assuming it was indeed a monopoly, there is no similar initiative to advise advertisers to deal with X.
“Everyone can see that advertising on X is a dangerous business relationship for advertisers,” Atkin said in a statement to Mashable from Check My Ads. “And we know, based on public reports, that X didn’t have that much to lose.”
