By Douglas Price
August 3, 2020
Citing reduced advertising revenue during the COVID-19 crisis, Twitter, Inc. reported operating losses of $289 million during the second quarter. This is in stark contrast to a gain of $88 million during the same period last year. For both years, the amounts are before provisions for income taxes. Revenue from advertising services fell 23 percent to $562 million.
In another matter related to advertising, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a draft complaint alleging violations of Twitter’s 2011 consent order with the FTC and the FTC Act. The allegations issued on July 28, 2020 relate to use of phone number and/or email address data provided for safety and security purposes for targeted advertising during periods between 2013 and 2019. Twitter estimates potential losses of $150.0 million to $250.0 million to arise from this regulatory action. This action also caused a significant jump in general and administrative expense to 36 percent of revenue for the second quarter, compared to 10 percent for the same period last year.
Corporate QnK 