Can Elon Musk's Change To Ads Save X?
HOLMES-CHAPEL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 16: Elon Musk account on Twitter X is displayed on a smartphone on ... More October 16, 2023 in Holmes Chapel, United Kingdom.
Elon Musk took to X to talk about the size of ads on the social media site. Musk posted on June 26, '𝕏 is moving to charging for ads based on vertical size, so an ad that takes up the whole screen would cost more than an ad that takes up 1/4 of the screen, otherwise the incentive is to create giant ads that impair the user experience.'
For frequent users of the site, formerly known as Twitter, large ads have become more commonplace. Advertisers often post rectangular video and carousel ads with a ratio of 1.91:1. These ads take up more of the feed than the traditional 16:9 ads, which used to be more common on the site.
Later in the night on the 26, Musk also posted, 'Starting tomorrow, the esthetic (sic) nightmare that is hashtags will be banned from ads on 𝕏.'
It is unclear if 'Hashmojis,' previously known as branded hashtags, will be part of this ban or when it will take effect.
While Musk stated that larger ads 'impair the user experience,' it may not be that simple. In a 2024 study, researchers from Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and Meta found that the presence of ads didn't significantly affect Facebook users' experience, 'suggesting that either the harmful effects of ads are relatively small or that certain benefits offset the harms.'
At the same time, limiting ads feels like a good thing for users. X has seen a decline in users in several markets. In April 2025, X released a report that it had lost over 11 million users in the EU. In 2024, NBC News reported, 'On the day after the election, Nov. 6, X experienced its largest user exodus since Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022.'
Since Musk bought X in 2022, users have complained about everything from the rise of the Alt-Right on the platform to outages. While a change to ads won't fix these problems, it may help revenue and possibly even the user experience.
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