X is testing a new advertisement format that places a recommendation directly below a post mentioning a company or its products. An initial test, observed by a user in Europe, showed a suggestion to “Get Starlink” beneath a post praising Starlink’s satellite service in Portugal. Clicking the link directed users to Starlink’s website.
The head of product at X, Nikita Bier, confirmed the test, stating, “Trying to make an ad product that isn’t an ad.” This Starlink advertisement is not visible to all users currently, but a placeholder box appears in its position. For users in the test market, the box displays the ad; for others, it shows a random post from X.
Several commenters noticed the new addition, with one asking if the Starlink button had been added. In the discussion, Bier responded to a suggestion about allowing affiliate links in this slot by saying, “No, then people will lie. I want to trust recommendations on here.”
This test follows the recent rollout of “Paid Partnership” labels for creators. These labels allow creators to comply with advertising regulations without using hashtags. If creators’ sponsored posts were combined with this new embedded ad format, X could potentially attract more marketers to its platform. This might boost creator activity, helping X better compete with larger social networks like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
X has long sought to attract creator content, even before its rebranding and acquisition by Elon Musk. However, it has struggled to gain significant traction in this area. The company has introduced various creator-focused products, including payouts for viral content, ad-revenue sharing, creator subscriptions, and more. This week, X also revamped its Creator Subscriptions with new features, such as the ability to monetize individual threads.
In a separate announcement, X stated that its integrated chatbot, Grok, can now read the platform’s long-form Articles. This feature remains underutilized, as creators who publish lengthy written content often prefer using their own websites or newsletters.