Report Claims X Users Experiencing Unblockable Ads Without Labels
Users of X (formerly Twitter) will see ads with no visual indicators to suggest they are ads. Simply put, some users are being served anonymous ads, and users have no way to block or report them, according to a Mashable report.
Users suggest that these alleged ads do not have an account associated with them and do not have an “ad” tag to indicate that it is one. Additionally, users cannot interact with, like, or report these ads.
Mashable says it has confirmed the existence of this ad format, and it consists of just text copy aligned with an image and a “fake avatar.” To make matters worse, the ads take users to third-party websites when users click on any ad. The publication also reports that these ads are being shown on the mobile version of the X apps, but it can be confirmed if they are also available on the web version.
In addition, the publication says it found similar ads posted by users with the same text copy “through the Yahoo and Taboola ad networks, competitors such as RevContent.” Additionally, the publication revealed that it was unable to find this “X ad format in the platform’s ad campaign manager, so it appears that these ads are actually served by a third-party ad provider.”
Mashable also notes that X has struggled to find new advertisers on the platform since Musk bought Twitter, saying that half of the platform’s advertisers have stopped serving ads since the acquisition.
