Almost exactly three years before Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter this week, he tweeted his thoughts on the platform’s primary financial engine: “I hate ads.”

On Thursday, Mr. Musk extended a sort of truce with Twitter’s advertisers, saying in a tweet that he aims to make Twitter “the most respected advertising platform in the world.”

He bought the company “because it is important for the future of civilization to have a common digital marketplace” and because he fears that social media could splinter into echo chambers “that generate even more hatred and divide our society. ”

He tried to allay Madison Avenue’s fears about brand safety — that their ads could appear alongside offensive content and be tainted by association — by emphasizing that “Twitter obviously can’t become a hellscape where everything is said without consequences can be !” Without making any promises about moderation of content, which many advertising trade groups have promoted in recent years, Mr. Musk pledged a platform that complies with state regulations and is “warm and welcoming to everyone.”

Bob Hoffman, the advertising industry veteran behind the Ad Contrarian newsletter, said in an email that advertisers aren’t sure which Musk — the free speech absolutist or the savvy businessman — is now at the helm.

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter

A blockbuster deal. In April, Elon Musk made an unsolicited offer worth $44 billion for the social media platform, saying he wants to turn Twitter into a private company and allow people to speak more freely about the service. This is how the following month-long struggle went:

A surprising move. On Oct. 4, Mr. Musk proposed a deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion, the price he was willing to pay for the company in April. The purchase was completed on October 27th. Mr. Musk quickly began a cleanup, with at least four top Twitter executives — including the chief executive and chief financial officer — being fired.

“If it’s the ‘free speech absolutist,’ he’s in big trouble,” he wrote. “If Twitter becomes the go-to place for the moron brigade, advertisers will run, not walk.”

Mr. Hoffman noted that while many companies felt they needed to advertise on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, few felt the same about Twitter.

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“Twitter takes a different place in the social media pantheon,” he said. “This is a difficult position because any reason for bail is reason enough.”

General Motors, a competitor to Mr. Musk’s electric vehicle business Tesla, said in a statement Friday that it would stop advertising on Twitter but would continue to use the platform to engage with users.

“We are working with Twitter to understand the platform’s direction under its new ownership,” the company said. “As is customary with any significant media platform change, we have temporarily suspended our paid advertising.”

Even before Mr. Musk began following Twitter, many advertising executives complained that the company’s ability to target ads lags behind that of competitors like Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Many had said they would consider moving their business elsewhere if Mr Musk’s outspoken stance on free speech risked bringing their campaigns close to hate speech and conspiracy theories.

Two advertising executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss potential plans, said some clients said they were going on pause with Twitter to explore their options, while others are considering the platform to leave completely if they were former President Donald J. Trump was allowed to tweet again. Mr Trump’s Twitter account was suspended following the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Arun Kumar, chief data and technology officer at advertising giant IPG, said Mr Musk’s message to advertisers makes it clear he doesn’t want them to leave Twitter.

“Adjustment is more or less just wait and see,” Mr Kumar said of clients. “Advertisers still share the same concerns about content moderation as before, and given the current economic environment, there will be missteps and quick responses.”

Twitter’s advertising sales, which account for more than 90 percent of total revenue, are on the up and totaled $2.18 billion in the first half of the year (revenue sources such as subscriptions were down). This year’s top five advertisers on the platform — HBO, Mondelez, Amazon, IBM and PepsiCo — spent more than $155 million this week, according to estimates by advertising analytics platform Pathmatics.

HBO said in a statement that it will “assess the platform under its new leadership” and “determine appropriate next steps.” The other companies didn’t immediately comment on Mr. Musk’s ownership of Twitter.