Twitter CEO Intervened to Mend Google Relationship After Cloud Payment Issue

Twitter is now paying Google for its cloud services after not consistently paying some of those bills, people familiar with the matter said. Those bills amounted to more than $20 million a month recently, people familiar with the matter said.

Yaccarino participated in a video call last week with Thomas Kurian, the chief executive at Google Cloud, to help rebuild the relationship between the two companies, one of the people said. The companies are in discussions about a broader partnership that could include Google’s ad spending on Twitter and Google’s use of Twitter’s application programming interface, or API, which grants access to some Twitter data, the person said.

Twitter and Google have had significant business ties. Twitter has used Google’s cloud services for a range of purposes, including anti-spam technology and data-warehousing services, according to people familiar with the matter and past blog posts from both companies.

Google has also spent on advertising on Twitter’s platform, though that spending has taken a hit recently according to third-party estimates. Google’s U.S. advertising spend on Twitter was down more than 90% year-over-year in May, according to estimates from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

Platformer previously reported that Twitter wasn’t paying its Google Cloud bills. Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday that the company had resumed payment.

Twitter’s spending on Google’s cloud services became a focus internally at Twitter after Twitter owner Elon Musk acquired the company late last year and quickly placed an emphasis on cutting costs and curbing reliance on vendors, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under Musk’s ownership, Twitter has been accused of missing payments on some bills that Musk inherited when he took over and implemented a more austere spending style. Since Musk’s takeover, Twitter has faced more than 20 lawsuits from landlords, consultants and other vendors alleging overdue payments, according to a review of court records around the country by The Wall Street Journal. While some of the suits have been dismissed, others are ongoing.

Yaccarino, who started as Twitter’s chief executive earlier this month, is tasked with leading a business that has seen a tumultuous period since Musk acquired the company in October in a deal valued at $44 billion. Many advertisers fled Twitter after Musk’s takeover because of concerns about content moderation and uncertainty over the company’s new direction. Some companies say they have resumed spending on the platform.

By hiring Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s former ad chief, Musk has turned to a seasoned advertising executive who has built a reputation throughout the industry as someone who works hard to win over clients. She oversaw a team at NBCUniversal that managed partnerships with companies like Twitter, Snap and Google-owned YouTube.