Linda Yaccarino's two-year tenure at X saw a notable impact on the social network's advertising business. According to data from Guideline, U.S. ad spending on X was up 62% year-over-year in the first half of 2025. Yaccarino had previously stated that 96% of X's advertisers had returned as of May 2025.
However, X's advertising business faced significant challenges, including an advertiser boycott in November 2023 following Elon Musk's endorsement of an antisemitic post. This led to brands like Apple, Disney, and IBM pausing their ad spending on the platform. Musk's controversial statements and actions further complicated the situation, even resulting in legal action against advertising groups.
Despite these challenges, Guideline's data indicates increased U.S. ad spend since December 2024. Yaccarino also implemented measures to improve brand safety, such as partnering with adtech companies and offering advertisers tools to control ad placement sensitivity. Nonetheless, X remains a controversial platform regarding ad safety, highlighted by recent antisemitic outbursts from its AI bot, Grok.
Yaccarino's departure raises questions about X's future profitability, especially as the company's reliance on alternative revenue streams like X Premium subscriptions and the X Money payments service remains limited.