An upsetting discovery has tarnished the image of Elon Musk‘s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, particularly during the grand event of Super Bowl LVIII.
Reports from cybersecurity firm CHEQ revealed that a staggering 75.85% of the platform’s traffic to advertisers’ websites was identified as fake, marking an unprecedented level of inauthentic activity.
This revelation follows X’s announcement, boasting over 10 billion impressions and 1 billion video views during the Super Bowl, signaling massive engagement on the platform.
However, CHEQ’s findings challenge the authenticity of that narrative, as Mashable reported.
According to the CEO of CHEQ, Guy Tytunovich, such a high percentage of fake traffic is unheard of in the industry.
This issue is not isolated to the Super Bowl event, as CHEQ’s analysis of traffic from X throughout January 2024 showed a significantly high rate of fake traffic, with 31.82% of visits being inauthentic.
While the problem of bots and fake users is not new to social media, the scale at which it occurs on X is particularly concerning for advertisers who rely on genuine engagement metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of their campaigns. The comparison with other platforms like TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, where fake traffic percentages were markedly lower, underscores X’s unique challenge in managing bot activity.
Under Musk’s leadership, X has gone through numerous changes, including layoffs within the Trust and Safety team, which may have impacted the platform’s ability to combat fake traffic effectively.
The bot issue and advertisers’ growing concerns over content moderation pose significant challenges to X’s advertising revenue and overall credibility.
