Twitter analytics staff decimated by layoffs and resignations -AdAge

The Twitter dumpster fire continues and is spreading pretty deeply into their advertising space. Pretty stupid move there…

“The Audience Insights unit, which was heavy with technical talent and looked at conversation volume and trends and worked with Twitter sales and marketing teams, lost 70% of its staff, the source said.

The Advertising Research group that worked with client teams for big advertisers such as Samsung, Verizon, AT&T and Google, doing custom studies and handling third-party measurement, also lost more than 70% of its people, this person said, leaving only two to handle prioritized work for a host of tech and telecom advertisers.

However, staff cuts could make it hard for brand advertisers that have paused spending to return to Twitter. And they also raise a question of whether Twitter can continue to provide brand safety controls for advertisers or get MRC accreditation for its processes, since almost every person on the team working on the audit is now gone, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Of course, the brand safety team at Twitter has one less thing to monitor these days. Sky News reports that Twitter has quietly dropped its policy against sharing Covid-19 misinformation. And the same advertisers that want brand lift studies and third-party audience measurement also tend to be the ones most concerned about brand safety.”