Elon Musk's SpaceX swoops in to save Twitter's advertising crisis

Elon Musk's SpaceX has bought an advertising package for its satellite internet service Starlink on Twitter. The billionaire owns both the rocket company and the social media platform.

Musk on Monday tweeted: "SpaceX Starlink bought a tiny – not large – ad package to test effectiveness of Twitter advertising in Australia and Spain. Did same for FB/Insta/Google."

After Elon Musk took charge of Twitter, several advertisers including General Motors, General Mills, Mondelez International, and Volkswagen AG have left the microblogging platform worrying that the new owner will change the content moderation rules. The tech entrepreneur is an advocate of absolute free speech. Twitter generated over 90% of its second-quarter revenue from ad sales.

Musk last week told advertisers that he aims to turn Twitter into a platform that pursues truth and puts an end to fake accounts. However, he also spoke of the possibility of bankruptcy and said the company has seen a "massive" drop in revenue. He blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers into leaving the platform.

Twitter also eliminated around 4,400-5,500 contract employees on Saturday. They didn't receive any notice about termination and realised their job status had been changed only after losing access to the company's email and communication systems.

Speaking about the controversial paid blue tick verification which led to a surge in fake accounts, he said Twitter will soon enable organisations to identify which other Twitter accounts are actually associated with them. The blue tick was earlier reserved for verified accounts of public figures and brands. The paid programme allowed anyone to get it by paying $8. This led to several users impersonating major brands and tweeting rubbish. Twitter tried to deal with it by introducing an "official" label but it was taken back a few hours later.