Linda Yaccarino’s tenure as CEO of X, which began in June 2023, marked a transformative period for the company’s advertising business. Having spent almost 12 years at NBCUniversal, Yaccarino was chairman of global advertising and partnerships. Now, she’s taken a position as Chief Product Officer, many expect will be crucial for the platform’s stormy future. As her departure draws near, she leaves behind an advertising world that has made strides although much work still remains to be done.
During his time at X, Yaccarino consistently boasted that 96% of the platform’s advertisers had come back by May 2025. This made it a historic success, especially in light of all they had overcome in the previous years. She focused on the fact that she was leaving X in a better position with its advertisers. This second step up happened during an especially chaotic period, which included the advertiser-led boycott and overall declining ad dollars.
In Q2 of 2025, U.S. ad spend increased a staggering 62% year-over-year. This jump up illustrates a powerful comeback in positivity from promoters. Yaccarino’s strategic initiatives have been instrumental in this resurgence. To help her accomplish this, she built relationships with adtech companies like DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science (IAS). These partnerships helped to keep ads off harmful content, an important consideration for advertisers as a whole that really care about where their ads run.
Yaccarino’s tenure was not without target practice. A nearly a year later after her joining X, it came to light in internal recordings that just 65% of advertisers had returned to the platform. This followed a tumultuous period that saw over 500 advertisers leave before her arrival. Consequently, the company experienced a painful 35% decline in revenue year over year for Q4 2022.
Her attempts at damage control with advertisers yielded haphazard returns. Guideline’s data suggests that during her time in the role, U.S. ad spending increased from December 2024 onward. Yet, it shows the colossal 89% crash in Twitter/X’s U.S. ad revenues from Q3 2022 to Q3 2024 prior to her adoption of her crazy initiatives. The complexities of the advertising landscape were obvious. The company was still reeling from the impact of an advertiser boycott that began during her time on leadership.
Yaccarino’s August 2023 operational run rate was already close to “break even,” she said. This is a very encouraging sign against the backdrop of continued fiscal uncertainty. Her exit puts in doubt whether X can ever be profitable. The company has so far failed to create new lines of revenue that make up for its dependency on advertising. Analysts warn that her departure may be felt deeply at a time when X, formerly known as Twitter, is still recovering from the drastic missteps of its former owner.
As Yaccarino prepares to leave X, she faces scrutiny regarding how her decision aligns with the company’s recent challenges, including the Grok incident, which reportedly influenced her departure. Regardless, her contributions have certainly made an impact on the platform’s advertising strategy.
