X is testing a new, less intrusive ad format that inserts a product recommendation directly under a relevant user post, as confirmed by head of product Nikita Bier. The initial test promoted Starlink beneath a post praising the service, with Bier describing the goal as creating "an ad product that isn’t an ad."
This test coincides with the rollout of official "Paid Partnership" labels for creators, suggesting a strategy to combine compliant sponsored posts with embedded ads to attract more marketers. The broader context is X's ongoing effort to compete for creators and their revenue, through various tools like ad-revenue sharing and updated subscription features.
The main topics covered are the new contextual ad test, the introduction of Paid Partnership labels, and X's broader strategy to attract creators and advertisers to the platform.
X is testing a new ad format that inserts a recommendation directly underneath a post that references the company or its products. The initial test, spotted by an X user in Europe, displayed a suggestion to “Get Starlink” beneath a post from a user that said Starlink’s satellite service works great in Portugal. The link, when clicked, directed users to Starlink’s website.
X head of product Nikita Bier confirmed the test, responding, “Trying to make an ad product that isn’t an ad.”
The Starlink ad is not visible to all users at this time, but the placeholder where the ad sits is.
If you visit X user @levelsio’s post from March 6 (screenshotted below in case of deletion), you’ll see an outlined box beneath the text of his post. This box currently showcases a random X post, unless you’re in the market where the ad test is live.
In places where the ad displays, several commenters noticed the new addition, with one asking, “lmao, did you add this 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 recommendations on here.”
X could not be immediately 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” labels for creators. The labels can be applied to posts to comply with regulations around social media advertising, instead of requiring creators to use a hashtag like “ad” or “paid partnership.”
If creators’ sponsored posts were to be combined with an embedded link to an advertiser like the one being tested, X could potentially attract more marketers to the platform. That could boost creators’ use of the app, allowing it to better compete against larger social networks favored by creators, like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
X has been chasing creator content for some time — even before it was called “X” and before it was owned by Elon Musk. Yet the app has never quite found its footing in this space. So far, the company has rolled out a number of creator products, including payouts for viral content, ad-revenue sharing, creator subscriptions, and more.
The company this week also revamped its Creator Subscriptions offering with a number of new features, including the ability to monetize individual threads.
In addition, X announced Friday that the integrated chatbot Grok is now capable of reading X’s long-form content, known as Articles. This feature, too, is underutilized, as creators who publish lengthy written text tend to prefer doing so through their own websites or newsletters.
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