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SMX is happening online next week… attend for free!

Written on November 8, 2022 at 4:52 am, by admin

Join thousands of search marketers online next week at SMX — November 15-16 — to learn actionable tactics that will take your SEO and PPC campaigns to a new level of success.

Your FREE All Access pass unlocks nearly 50 tactic-rich sessions programmed by the Search Engine Land editors that explore the latest search marketing issues — from machine learning to E-A-T, critical GA4 reports, winning site structure, and more. Each day kicks off with exclusive keynote conversations with Google – loaded with invaluable advice and tips straight from the source!

Instant on-demand access is included so you can train at your own pace – no plane ticket, no hotel, no travel risks required.

By the end of next week, you’ll be ready to…

• Increase the visibility and discoverability of your digital content
• Drive significant conversion rate and revenue gains
• Earn trust and build engaging conversations with prospects

… and much more. Check out the complete agenda, including live Q&A (Overtime!) with 30+ expert speakers, invigorating topic-driven Coffee Talks, and more!

What are you waiting for? You and your career deserve this. Grab your free pass now and join us online, November 15-16!

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Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing

Excel pivot table best practices for search marketers

Written on November 8, 2022 at 4:52 am, by admin

In 7 useful Excel formulas and functions for PPC, I shared tips to quickly identify high-impact PPC optimizations that will move the needle for your brand or client.

I am a firm believer in an analytical approach to search marketing. My “weapon of choice” for manipulating search data is Excel and one of my favorite features of the platform is pivot tables.

In this article, I’ll highlight a use case you might not be familiar with, along with some tips and shortcuts to enhance your pivot table skills. 

Unique use case: Using pivot tables to QA bulk sheets

If you’ve come across pivot tables in your search marketing career, I’d expect it was likely in a performance report. However, they can be leveraged in creative, non-analytical ways.

One such approach I am a particularly big fan of is using pivot tables to QA bulk sheets.

Might be a given, but you need to build your bulk sheet before you can use this technique. I won’t cover bulk sheet tips in this article (just one teaser: the concatenate function could come in handy), but one step I’ll recommend for your QA is to compile a summary of the elements you expect to be included in your bulk sheet. 

I generally build a table in the first sheet of my workbook, such as the one that you see below. For the sake of this example, there are two things I want to highlight.

• First is that there will be exactly 5 keywords in each ad group.
• Secondly, Ad Group #1 across all campaigns drives to the final URL with Page=A, Ad Group #2 drives to page=B, and Ad Group #3 will click to page=C. 

In the screenshot, you’ll notice I included the formula bar, which contains a formula for how to count distinct values in a data set.

Rather than discuss the nuts and bolts of how it works, just know that the referenced cells (D4:D18 in this example) need to be identical across the match functions and you should get the correct results. 

Once you’ve built out your bulk sheet, it’s time to create the pivot table.

The key here is to make sure you are highlighting all rows/columns that comprise the bulk sheet before you create the pivot table.

Now that we have our pivot table created, we can use the count feature to ensure that the bulk sheet is accurately created.

When you drag non-numeric fields into the Values area, the output will automatically become a count, instead of a sum. It’s important to note that the pivot table will not reflect just the unique values.

This is illustrated in the example below, where you can see that the count of all campaign elements is 75, which reflects the total number of keywords we expect in the bulk sheet. 

It’s important to recognize this, as it has an impact on how you should design your pivot table for accurate QA.

The best practice I recommend is to focus the count on the most granular element of the campaign. Move the campaigns and ad groups to the Rows area of the pivot table.

One final transformation to make, which is more stylistic than anything. If you right-click on the Campaigns field and navigate to field settings, you can adjust the view of your pivot table.

By making the selections highlighted in the view below, you can make the pivot table less vertical. 

The screenshot below shows the differences in pivot table formats, with the corresponding field settings underneath.

Again, more of a stylistic tip than anything; however, this will format the pivot table in a way that is more friendly for copy/pasting into the Editor.

With these pivot table views, we’ve completed the first part of our QA. We’ve also confirmed that we have 5 keywords in each of the 15 ad groups.

If you wanted to audit the keyword text for accuracy, you would just move Keywords into the rows column below Campaign and Ad Group. 

In the second part of our QA, we want to make sure that the ad groups in each campaign are driving to the correct landing page.

One of the beautiful things about pivot tables is that there are multiple ways to get to the same conclusion.

Below I’ve highlighted two ways you can use pivot tables to confirm we’ve trafficked the bulk sheet correctly.

The first option is similar to how we QA’d the count of keywords in each ad group. All I did was remove Keywords from the pivot table and added Landing Page underneath Ad Groups in the row. This will create a view that’s very easy to compare to our summary table. 

The second option flips things on its head a bit. Since we know that all Ad Group #1s should drive to page=a, we can put Landing Page at the top rows area in our pivot table. By doing this, we will see all the Ad Groups within the bulk sheet that are driving to Page=A. A different view, yet one I would argue is more effective for QA’ing. 

I’m only highlighting a few different views that I like. I challenge you to attempt leveraging a pivot table in your next bulk sheet QA and don’t be confined to the examples I’ve included here.

One of the greatest advantages of pivot tables is their flexibility. Play around and figure out what methods/approaches make the most sense for you. 

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4 tips and tricks for pivot table analysis

To reiterate, the most common way that pivot tables are used in search marketing is for performance-based reporting.

In order to optimize the quality of your analysis, I want to highlight a few key tips.

1. Use custom calculations for maximum accuracy

I can’t stress this one enough. Accuracy is crucial for any analysis you are conducting.

To be honest, I don’t even export data sets with metrics such as CTR, CPC, or CVR, as I am a proponent of creating these as custom fields in the pivot table to ensure these metrics are accurately reflected. 

It is surprisingly easy to create these metrics in a pivot table.

Once you’ve created your pivot table, navigate to the pivot table Analyze menu, go to Fields, Items, & Sets, and finally Calculated Field.

Here, you can name and create custom fields that will automatically update with any changes you make to the filters/contents of the pivot table. 

Although it defaults to a “Sum of” label, you can see in the screenshot it is not a Sum. I typically just find and replace “Sum of” once I’ve finished creating my calculated fields to avoid any confusion. 

To illustrate the difference, I’ve included the average platform CTRs in my dataset in the screenshot below. You can then see how I get to the calculated fields menu and how I create the calculated field. 

Notice how the average of CTRs does not accurately represent the true CTR for this data set. However, our Custom CTR is spot on. (Feel free to check the calculation yourself!)

2. Pull data at the most granular level 

The beauty of Excel and pivot tables is that it is prepared to handle relatively large data sets (about 1M rows). Pull your data at a keyword or ad level, add segments (i.e., device) and always pull by day if looking at a time period. 

In doing so, you will ensure that you can drill down to the main drivers of impact. Refer to my first Excel article for tips on adding additional filters, such as transforming dates to a weekly view or how VLOOKUP can help create filters.

3. Build reports for the long term 

PivotTable data can be refreshed and updated easily using the refresh feature (see screenshot below). Think about how you can design your report for the long term so that all you need to do is update the back-end data to create an updated view of performance. 

This means maximizing the use of formulas in data manipulation (such as adding filters) and designing the data source in a way that those formulas won’t break when you paste in the updated data. 

While this may seem like a heavy lift upfront, your end goal is a simple button click to refresh your performance report. The squeeze is worth the juice, trust me!

A quick comment on the difference between Refreshing a pivot table and Changing the Data Source. If you click Refresh, it will update the data within the originally defined data source. 

When you change the data source, you are redefining what rows/columns should be included in the pivot table data.

If you expect the number of rows in the data set to vary over time, I recommend becoming familiar with the Change Data Source option, as this will ensure you have always included all rows/columns in the report. It’s an extra step, but one that ensures your data set is comprehensive.

4. Use shortcuts for pivot tables (PC users)

Last but not least, sharing a handful of shortcuts that have improved my speed when manipulating pivot tables. 

These are a bit more complex, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be flying around your workbook! For those on a Mac, #1 I’m sorry you’re missing out on Excel for a PC, but #2 your shortcuts are different!

• Alt + N + V + T: This creates a pivot table
• Alt + J + T: This opens the pivot table Analyze menu, when your cursor is on a cell within the pivot table. Adding a few keystrokes to the end gets you to commonly used features/menus 
  • Alt + J + T + J + F: This opens the Calculated Fields menu
  • Alt + J + T + F + R: This refreshes the pivot table
  • Alt + J + T + I + D: This allows you to change the data source
  • Alt + J + T + C: This opens up the chart creation menu for the contents of your pivot table
  • Alt + J + T + E + C: This clears the contents of your pivot table 

Improving your Excel skills takes practice

Similar to the functions I covered previously, it is going to take practice and time before you see the efficiency benefits that come with these techniques. However, put in the time now and I can assure you that you will see the payoff.

In addition, I encourage you to not limit yourselves to the applications of pivot tables covered here. As shown in the Bulk Sheet QA example, there are multiple ways to get to the same output. 

PivotTables are incredibly powerful tools that you can use to ensure you have both the 30,000-foot view of performance, as well as the more granular shifts that show your mastery of the funnel.

Use the Calculated Fields to create metrics specific to your business and think about how the QA techniques can be applied to other parts of your role. 

The applications of these techniques are far-reaching.

Want to learn more Excel tips and tricks from me? Sign up for SMX Next. Check out my session on how to level up your analytical skills with Excel, plus you’ll hear from plenty of other amazing speakers. 

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How SEO and content marketing work together

Written on November 8, 2022 at 4:52 am, by admin

SEO and content marketing go together so well. They just work.

For best results, you shouldn’t do content marketing without considering how SEO fits in.

Conversely, you shouldn’t do SEO without understanding how content provides substance and connection to what ultimately matters at the heart of it all: your audience. 

With both content and SEO working together, you’ll hit two bullseyes:

• SEO drives targeted, relevant traffic from Google – not random people who won’t care about what you do or sell, but rather prospects who could join your audience and convert at some point. It’s so powerful, SEO drives 1,000% more traffic than organic social media.
• Content marketing builds trust, authority, and loyalty with those prospects. If you’ve been paying attention, most modern consumers do diligent research before making purchases, and they want to like and trust the brands they give their money. 55% of buyers rely more deeply on content for researching and making purchase decisions than they did a year ago.

To put it lightly, SEO and content marketing have an incredibly symbiotic relationship. Let’s explore how they harmonize.

First, what is content marketing?

Content marketing is the creation, publication, and distribution of online content (from blogs and videos to ebooks and podcasts).

This content is not intended to sell something or promote the brand, but rather educate, entertain, or empower prospects. This nurtures their interest, engagement, and trust over time so they eventually become customers.

What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing and improving your website (and your website content) so it’s visible in search results, where people are hunting for information, answers, products, and services.

It can’t be understated how important it is these days to show up in search engines, especially Google. Google Search, Images, and Maps drive 92.96% of global traffic. If your website and pages rank highly in the search engine, you’ll earn a good slice of that. 

What are the major differences between SEO and content marketing?

SEO and content marketing are different but related.

Let’s put it this way:

• SEO is what brings targeted traffic to your site, including your content.
  • SEO includes a set of actions you can carry out to optimize your website and content to show up in searches.
• Content is how you keep those people on your pages, nurture and eventually convert them into customers.
  • Content can be optimized for specific keyword searches that connect to the audience (and buyer’s journey stage) you want to bring in.

To sum up, each one supports the other. 

But how, exactly? In what specific ways do content marketing and SEO intertwine for the benefit of brands, search engines, and the users who need them?

How does SEO complement content marketing? (and vice versa?)

SEO and content marketing are very much a yin and yang situation. One improves the other and vice versa.

With both in your strategy, the results will be much more impressive than using either alone.

1. SEO drives relevant traffic to nurture content

You don’t write content so it gets sucked into the black hole of the internet. You write content with the hopes that some weary readers will find it and come away with giant light bulb moments.

They’ll associate those moments with your brand and your expertise. That’s formidable.

Content that doesn’t get read is useless. If you want it to contribute to the success of your marketing, you need people reading it so it can do its job nurturing leads.

One of the best ways to ensure the right eyes land on your content? Use SEO tactics to optimize it with keywords your targets are searching for.

68% of all website traffic comes from searches. That means, whenever someone in the world opens a browser, they’re starting their online session with a search most of the time. SEO helps drive the chunk of people who need you to your nurturing content.

2. SEO and content boost visibility and brand awareness

Want more people to associate your name with key industry terms? Start showing up consistently in their searches for those terms with SEO.

Even better, start showing up with amazing content that answers their questions and eases their specific pains – the ones only you can solve with what you know and what you sell (or, if you’re a marketer or SEO specialist, what your client knows and sells).

The better you do this, the higher your site and content will show up in results. Ultimately, earning a top 5 spot in organic (non-paid) results in Google promises the best chance people will not just see your listing, but also click on it.

CTR, or click-through rate, is the percentage of people visiting a webpage who click a specific link. The best CTRs on a search engine results page belong to the top 5 positions.

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3. SEO and content work together to improve the user experience

SEO and content aren’t just about ranking in a search engine and driving traffic and leads.

Together, they also help you provide a better user experience to your audience across your website.

SEO is laden with rules and guidelines that govern:

• How your website should be structured and optimized.
• How you should approach building pages and content.
• How you should link to other sites and your own.
• The level of quality you should aim for.
• And more.

It also prohibits deceptive or manipulative behaviors that aim to trick users or game the ranking system.

Following the guidelines for your site and content doesn’t just ensure you’ll rank better – it also ensures your audience will have a good experience once they find you.

And that contributes to everyone’s goals:

• Search engines want users to find what they’re looking for quickly and efficiently, and they want to provide results that are relevant and helpful.
• Brands want prospects who find them on Google to eventually turn into customers – and there’s a better chance of that happening if the brand provides a good user experience: from relevant, useful content to a fast-loading site that’s well-structured.

4. High-quality SEO content helps your pages rank better

It’s no secret that high-quality content will help your blogs, articles, and even your landing pages and sales pages climb the search rankings.

Content quality is, in fact, one of the most important elements that will influence your SEO success – if not the most important.

As Search Engine Land’s What Is SEO guide puts it:

“Content should be your first priority when thinking about SEO.”

After all, the content on your website:

• Determines whether you’re relevant to a user’s search query and whether you’ll add value to their lives or waste their time. 
• Influences how long they’ll stay on your site (will they read that entire blog? Browse your other content? Look at your “about” page and services/products?).
• Should provide evidence that they can trust you.

These are essential signals to send out to your prospects, and all of them begin and end with your content and its quality.

Don’t leave home without both SEO and content marketing working in tandem

Let’s not mince words here.

Content marketing set up in a strategy by itself does not have the same power as when it’s mashed together with SEO.

Content without smart SEO will get far less traffic, fewer reads, less engagement, and fewer conversions.

SEO without high-quality content equals a thin, uninspiring, useless website that attracts no one and earns nothing.

The secret sauce comes together when you blend the two.

SEO pulls in traffic and leads. SEO gets a brand seen on a different level. SEO ensures the user experience measures up to high standards and satisfies users.

Content engages leads and keeps them on your site. Content nurtures their interest, trust, and loyalty. Content keeps them coming back for more.

Don’t leave home without a healthy mixture of both in your strategy.

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Apple could be building an ad network for live TV

Written on November 4, 2022 at 5:46 pm, by admin

Apple is currently holding discussions with advertising partners and MLS sponsors with the plan to launch next February.

The push for more ad space. Apple has been pushing aggressively lately to generate more demand and ad space for advertisers.

• Four new Apple Search Ad placement options
• New Apple ad spots are coming by the end of the year
• Apple’s ad business may reach $6 billion by 2025

A deal with the MLS. Apple recently closed a 10-year deal to air MLS games in a new subscription service, as well as Apple TV+ streaming platform. They will also stream a portion of games for free to users of the Apple TV app. They’ll offer three different tiers: the dedicated package, paid TV+ subscriptions and the free TV app. 

The contract has been estimated to cost $250 million per season or $2.5 billion over the next decade. 

Why we care. New ad space is a good thing for advertisers who may be struggling to find their place in a crowded ad landscape. Stay tuned for more information when Apple makes an official announcement.

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YouTube has introduced a TikTok and Twitch co-streaming feature

Written on November 4, 2022 at 5:46 pm, by admin

Creators can now co-stream live videos with their friends on Twitch and TikTok. The new YouTube feature is called Go Live Together, and it’s rolling out over the next couple of weeks.

Not new. The new feature is compared to TikTok’s multi-guest and Twitch’s Guest Stars. YouTube’s newest addition Go Live Together can only be accessed through the YouTube app, which all parties must have installed.

What’s included. Hosts who want to co-host with their friends must have at least 50 subs and a verified channel. Additionally, guests must have a channel with no strikes on it.

On Twitch and TikTok, co-hosting supports up to five guests, but with Go Live Together, only one guest can join.

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Ads are allowed. YouTube’s co-hosted streams are allowed to run advertisements, but guests won’t see any of the revenue. The ads will head to the host, and the tandem stream won’t even show up on the guest’s channel. In the Creator Insider video, a YouTube rep admitted that visibility on guest channels is “so important to creators,” so that perk could arrive soon on Go Live Together.

Why we care. Creators will have the opportunity to bring on guests to share experiences, collaborate, or “hang out. The addition of advertisements also gives an additional opportunity to monetize their content.

We aren’t sure if monetization will ever be afforded to both participants on the channel, but there should be an option to at least split revenue. Brands will also have an opportunity to advertise their products and services in a collaborative environment.

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Report: Insights into the Tik Tok Audience by Digital Marketing Depot

Written on November 3, 2022 at 2:45 pm, by admin

Five years after it first launched, the video sharing-focused social network TikTok has taken the world by storm.

Downloaded more than 2 billion times by users in 150 countries, people have flocked to the mobile app which presents them with a stream of algorithmically selected short videos filled with music, dancing, cooking demos, and other short bits of user-created entertainment.

For this report, DISQO surveyed 39,452 adult consumers in the United States with the goal of better understanding TikTok usage and consumer attitudes, particularly about brand advertising on the social media platform, including:

• How does TikTok usage vary across demographic cohorts?
• What do TikTok users think about efforts to market to them on the platform?
• What actions do TikTok users take after watching brand videos, and how does that map to the consumer marketing funnel?

Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download TikTok is all that… and a bag of clips. Insights into the TikTok audience from DISQO.

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Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing

4 new creator tools for Facebook and Instagram

Written on November 3, 2022 at 2:45 pm, by admin

Meta has just announced new tools to help creators reach new audiences, grow their communities, and monetize their content. Let’s jump in.

1. Updates to digital collectibles

Creators will soon have the ability to make and sell their own digital collectibles on and off Instagram. About creators, Meta says “They’ll have an end-to-end toolkit — from creation (starting on the Polygon blockchain) and showcasing, to selling. People can easily support their favorite creators by buying their digital collectibles directly within Instagram. We’re testing these new features with a small group of creators in the US first, and hope to expand to more countries soon.”

Meta is also expanding the types of digital collectibles that you can showcase on Instagram to include video and adding support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet

Information for select collections where the metadata has been enriched by OpenSea, such as collection names and descriptions, will also be available on Instagram.

2. Subscriptions on Instagram

Meta is expanding access to subscriptions on Instagram to all eligible creators in the U.S., so more creators can earn predictable income and connect more deeply with their most engaged followers.

3. Stars and gifts

For creators already using Stars, Meta is launching additional features to make it easier to earn Stars and interact with Star senders. Meta is testing the new feature with a select number of creators globally. 

From the Meta help guide:

• Bringing Stars Party to Reels. A Stars Party is a Stars community challenge that ends in a celebration if the creator reaches their goal. 
• Testing a new set of virtual gifts tailored to specific content. For example, if you’re watching a puppy reel from your favorite pet creator, you’ll be able to send that creator a dog-themed gift. 
• Giving creators more tools to engage with Stars senders, like adding a filter in Comments Manager that displays all of a creator’s Stars comments in one place. In this surface, creators will be able to reply to multiple comments at once.
• Bringing Stars to non-video public content like photos and text posts.

Gifts on Instagram have been introduced so creators have a new way to earn money from fans who like their Reels. Fans can send gifts on Reels by purchasing Stars within Instagram.

Meta is testing this with a small group of creators in the US.

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4. Professional mode for Facebook profiles

Professional mode offers creators a set of tools to begin growing a global community from their personal profile. Creators can become eligible to earn money through Stars, ads on Facebook Reels, in-stream ads and Reels Play. They will also have access to content and audience analytics, educational resources and more.

Why we care. Both seasoned and brand-new or aspiring creators can use these new tools to reach communities, grow their audiences, and earn money through Facebook and Instagram.

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Google fixed a bug with some search features that may impact your site’s visibility

Written on November 3, 2022 at 2:45 pm, by admin

Google has confirmed it has fixed a bug that affected some search features, such as the top stories section. The bug was “noticeable” around October 18th and 19th, and was fixed around October 28th. Google said the bug fix can take about a week to fully rollout.

What happened. It is unclear exactly what the bug was, outside of there being a bug with “some search features” including the top stories section, as well as other search features. Google posted about this issue in the data anomalies Search Console report. Google wrote that on October 28th, the search performance report may be impacted due to this bug. Google wrote:

“Google released a fix to a bug that primarily affected some search features, such as Top Stories, and that became most noticeable around October 18-19. The bug fix will take about a week to fully rollout.”

Theories. We did ask Google for more details but did not yet hear back, so we can come up with some theories about what this bug was. Google did mention top stories specifically but I also noticed that Google had issues with other search features, like the people also ask and local pack results, amongst others, not showing up as often in the Google Search results listings.

Stay tuned. We hope to get a more detailed statement from Google about this issue and if and when we do, we will update this story.

Why we care. This bug may have had a temporary impact on your traffic and visibility in Google Search. It may have resulted in fewer impressions and clicks in Google Search. Google fixed the issue but you should see things rebound specific to this issue in the upcoming days or weeks.

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Hour and date dimensions now available in GA4

Written on November 3, 2022 at 2:45 pm, by admin

Google has just added hour and date dimensions for Google Analytics 4.

A dimension is an attribute of your data. It describes your data and it’s usually text as opposed to numbers. An example of a dimension is Event name, which shows the name of an event that someone triggers on your website or application (such as “click”). 

The new dimensions. An explanation of the new dimensions is below:

• Hour is the hour when an event was collected.
• Nth hour is the number of hours since the start of a specified date range.
• Date + hour is the date and hour when an event was collected.
• Week is the week of the event, a two-digit number from 01 to 53. Each week starts on Sunday, and January 1st is always in Week 1.
• Month is the month of the event, a two-digit integer from 01 to 12.

What the dimensions do. Google says you can use these dimensions to quickly answer questions like:

• How did my online sales data trend, hourly, after our Superbowl commercial aired?
• What months do I see the most traffic on my website?
• Are users of my app more likely to convert in the evening hours, or during the day? What about users of my website?

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Add custom dimensions and metrics as primary dimensions in saved reports. Google just announced that you can now add custom dimensions and metrics to your custom reports as primary dimensions, enabling you to more easily report on custom information that’s important to your business.

Additionally, the dimensions and metrics pickers in the Reports Builder have been updated to allow for easier navigation to help you find dimensions and metrics quickly. 

Dig deeper. Learn more about analytics dimensions here.

Why we care. Advertisers will be able to see more information about their events so they can better optimize their campaigns. Use the dimensions to see the date and hour your event received clicks, conversions, or any other event name that’s specified.

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How brands and agencies are reacting to Elon Musk’s radical changes at Twitter

Written on November 2, 2022 at 11:40 am, by admin

Last week, Twitter’s new chief twit, Elon Musk told advertisers he was buying Twitter because human civilization needed a town square, “where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”

It seems like he’s getting what he wanted.

A brand safety risk

Not all agencies and brands are on board with Musk’s new outlook.

Due to trust and safety concerns under Musk’s leadership, some agencies are advising that their clients suspend their ads on Twitter, at least for now.

One of those advertising companies is IPG’s Mediabrands. 

The automaker, and Tesla competitor GM temporarily paused their ads, but stated that its decision was consistent with its “normal course of business” to “temporarily pause our paid advertising.” The automaker added, it is not abandoning Twitter entirely, as its “customer care interactions on Twitter will continue.”

Musk’s words state that he’s committed to safety, posting recently, “Twitter’s commitment to brand safety is unchanged,” but his actions seem to say otherwise. 

Some advertisers aren’t concerned, though, as 58% of the marketers we polled thought the change could be a good thing for brands, marketers, and users.

A chaotic and confused approach to free speech 

Last week, Musk promoted a baseless conspiracy theory about the recent violent attack on Paul Pelosi. “There might be more to this story than meets the eye,” Musk said, in response to a tweet from Hillary Clinton. A few hours later the tweet was deleted. 

Musk also said he disagrees with Twitter’s practice of permanent bans for those who repeatedly violate its rules, raising the possibility that a number of previously banned, controversial users could reemerge on the platform. Many of us will be watching to see if he lets former President Trump back on the platform in time for the U.S. midterm elections. 

Musk has a history of outrageous behavior as we saw in 2018 when he called a British caver “Pedo guy” during the Thai boys’ soccer team rescue. The diver sued Musk for his comments and Musk later told a jury that his insult wasn’t meant to be taken literally.   

Bloomberg points out that there are other examples of more concerning tweets directed toward Musk, such as ones from commentators in China lobbying to have their “Chinese state-affiliated media” label removed.

It’s also concerning that since Musk’s takeover, there has been a noticeable uptick in racial and Nazi slurs on the platform.

“Musk’s Twitter takeover has shown us some unfortunate outcomes thus far, one of the clearest signals being the immediate increase in hate speech on the platform. A study from the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University found that in the hours after Musk’s acquisition, Twitter became a more “vulgar and hostile” environment, with it experiencing an “immediate, visible, and measurable spike” in hate speech. Social media acts as a gathering space for billions, and it becoming more hostile will have real-world impacts. Words matter, they have power; there have been countless studies showing how hate speech directly correlates with a rise in hate crimes.”

Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of Ericho Communications

Musk has already walked back some of his “anything goes” proclamations, tweeting that Twitter “obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.”

And yet with his mixed messages, the “free the bird” bell may not be able to be unrung; it’s clear that users see Musk’s ownership as permission to “unleash the racial slurs” as one Twitter user put it, says Yaverbaum.

Yaverbaum continued:

“Twitter’s actions (and resulting consequences) won’t stop at the public impact; it’s setting itself up for a serious internal crisis. The company is planning layoffs and is expecting employees to now work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, and employees are unsurprisingly already resigning. Leaders must set the tone to ensure a healthy workplace environment. Here Musk is doing just the opposite. Outside of encouraging poor time management and uprooting the lives of those who currently work at Twitter, Musk’s actions aren’t painting him in the best light as a leader, especially to any future Twitter employees he looks to recruit. These actions send a clear message to current and prospective employees and can have lasting impacts on a company, even years down the line.” 

The entire board fired

Immediately after his acquisition, Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal. In addition, on Thursday Musk also fired CFO Ned Segal and policy head Vijaya Gadde. Musk also fired Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel. 

More executives call it quits

Sarah Personette, Twitter’s advertising liaison and chief commercial officer stepped down from her position on Tuesday. On her Twitter, she said “Hi folks, I wanted to share that I resigned on Friday from Twitter and my work access was officially cut off last night.”

She continued “It has been the greatest privilege to serve all of you as a leader and a partner. Many have heard me say this but the most important role I believe I played in the company was championing the requirements of brand safety.” 

Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand announced on Tuesday in a LinkedIn post that she had resigned last week as well. General manager for core technologies Nick Caldwell confirmed his departure on Twitter, changing his profile bio to “former Twitter exec” by Monday night.

Chief marketing officer Leslie Berland, Twitter’s head of product Jay Sullivan, and its vice president of global sales, Jean-Philippe Maheu, have also left, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. It was not immediately clear whether they quit or were asked to leave.

The new Twitter Blue

In response to Twitter’s blue checkmark, Musk tweeted “The current system of lords and peasants, with those who have the blue tick and those who don’t, is bullshit.” 

Musk proposed charging users $20 per month to keep their blue check mark verification as well as access to other features. In response, writer Stephen King responded

Musk fired back, “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”

Shortly after, Musk announced “Power to the people! Blue for $8 a month.”

Joel M. Petlin, superintendent and Newsweek Opinion contributor responded 

No kidding, Joel. 

The Saudi’s investment

Last Friday, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he and his Kingdom Holding Company rolled over a combined $1.89 billion in existing Twitter shares, making them the company’s largest shareholder after Musk. The news raised concerns among some lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.

Murphy tweeted that he is requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment — which reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign buyers — to investigate the national security implications of the kingdom’s investment in Twitter

“We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform,” Murphy tweeted. “There is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review.”

Why we care

Musk’s radical changes and viewpoints could be scaring off brands and agencies, as none want to be associated with a platform that promotes hate speech, conspiracies, and an environment where employees are leaving in troves.

We are also playing the wait-and-see game. Yaverbaum added “Social media as a whole is already struggling. If Twitter continues down this path, it could easily be its undoing.”

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