Musk's X now showing 'clickbait' ads that users can't block or report

Elon Musk-owned X Corp has reportedly launched clickbait ads that users cannot block or report, leaving them flummoxed at the new, annoyed way of making money on the platform. Mashable reported that X users now see “unlabeled ads in their feeds” while scrolling. When users tap on those ads they take them to third-party websites, with no way to block or report them. “The new ads also don't disclose who the advertiser is or that they are even ads,” the report mentioned.
“Multiple X users have reached out to Mashable over the past few days to report seeing a new type of ad in their For You feed that they had not previously come across on the platform”.

These new X ads don't allow users to like or retweet the ad posts. The new ad format also doesn't disclose who is behind the ad. The type of content being promoted in the ads “appear to be consistent with ads found in spammy, low quality 'chumbox' advertising”, the report noted. These ads are now being served to users on the X mobile apps.

In order to deal with declining ad revenue, X has partnered with third-party advertisers. Unlike normal ads that are just posts from X accounts and have an “Ad” label, these new ads have no account associated with them. X CEO Linda Yaccarino said last month that the company will be profitable by early 2024, adding that the platform may now have 200-250 million daily active users.

Yaccarino said that “90 per cent of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform in the last 12 weeks alone.” According to her, about 1,500 advertisers have returned to the platform. X is yet to announce an annual profit in its 13 years, and has struggled to maintain profitability.