X is testing a new ad format that inserts a recommendation right below a post that mentions the company or its products. The initial test, spotted by a user X in Europe, showed a suggestion to “Download Starlink” under a post by a user who said that Starlink’s satellite service works great in Portugal. The link, when clicked, directed users to the Starlink website.
Product X lead Nikita Bier confirmed the test, answering“I’m trying to create an ad product that isn’t an ad.”
The Starlink ad is not visible to all users at this time, but it is the placeholder for where the ad is located.
If you visit User X’s post @levelsio as of March 6th (screenshot below in case of deletion), you’ll see an outlined box below his post text. This box currently shows a random X post unless you are in the market where the ad test is live.
In places where advertising appears, several commenters noted the new additionwith one asking“lmao, did you add that Starlink button?”
In the thread, Bier also responded to a suggestion that X should allow affiliate links in this ad slot by saying: “No, then people will lie. I want to trust the suggestions here.”
X could not immediately be reached for comment. TechCrunch will update the article if the company responds.
The test follows news earlier this week that the company is rolling out “Paid Partnership” tags for creators. Tags can be applied to posts to comply with social media advertising regulations, rather than requiring creators to use a hashtag such as “advertisement” or “paid partnership.”
If creator-sponsored posts are combined with an embedded link to an advertiser like the one being tested, X could potentially attract more marketers to the platform. This could boost creator usage of the app, allowing it to better compete with larger creator-friendly social networks like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
X has been chasing creator content for quite some time — even before it was called “X” and before it was owned by Elon Musk. However, the app never quite found its footing in this space. So far, the company has released a number of creator products, including payments for viral content, ad revenue sharing, creator subscriptions, and more.
This week, the company also revamped its Creator Subscriptions offering with a number of new features, including the ability to monetize individual threads.
Besides, X announced on Friday that the built-in Grok chatbot is now able to read X’s long-form content known as Articles. This feature is also underutilized, as creators who publish long written text tend to prefer to do so through their own websites or newsletters.
