Apps

X, formerly Twitter, caught running unlabeled ads in users’ Following feeds

Comment

X logos with arrow in the middle, arrow is crossed out
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

X, the company formerly known as Twitter, has been caught running unlabeled ads in users’ Following feeds, TechCrunch has learned and was able to confirm firsthand. While scrolling the Following feed on a Mac using the Chrome web browser, we encountered a handful of unlabeled ads amid other posts from people we follow, as well as other ads that did properly display the “Ad” label at the top right of the post.

Because many of X’s ads are still labeled, this makes the unlabeled ones even harder to spot.

It’s unclear if the issue is a glitch with X’s advertising platform or a deliberate change intended to deceive consumers into believing some ads are regular posts from accounts they follow.

Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23
Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23

In our tests, we came across a good handful of unlabeled ads from accounts we didn’t follow. In fact, the only indication they were an ad was by clicking on the three-dot menu at the top-right of the post. When you click this menu on an ad, you’re presented with various engagement options like “Not interested in this ad” or “Why this ad?” as well as tools to follow the account, mute it, block it and more.

In some cases, the unlabeled ads were from various NFL teams — according to examples sent in by a tipster — but TechCrunch also found a variety of other posts that were not displaying the ad label when we attempted to reproduce the problem ourselves. (This took a lot of scrolling and clicking!)

Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23

The issue with the ads follows an update X made to its ad labeling format in July, which saw it switching from a more prominent “Promoted” label at the bottom of its ads which had also included an arrow icon right above the post’s interaction buttons like reply and retweet.

Now, the word “Ad” appears on the top-right of a post, next to the poster’s name and @username — a placement that some critics said made the ads less noticeable.

However, those posts were still technically labeled as ads, so X was not breaking any rules around deceptive advertising practices.

That may no longer be the case, given that many ads are now flowing through users’ timelines without ad labels attached.

Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23
Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23

“The FTC should open up an investigation into X’s use of stealth ads, especially reviewing whether it is engaged in deceptive business tactics,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy, a digital rights, consumer protection and privacy organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., when reached for comment on the matter. “It should require X to disgorge any data it or its ad partners have gathered from its users, in addition to imposing fines and other sanctions,” he continued.

“Doesn’t Elon Musk know that X can never really be effectively ad-supported given the environment he has unleashed on what was Twitter? The attempt to disguise ads as content smacks of financial desperation — not the best way to convey a ‘brand safe’ site for advertisers!” Chester added.

Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23
Image Credits: X screenshot 9/8/23

It appears the unlabeled ads may be an ongoing issue, as we came across a few posts that referenced the problem before today.

“A user’s control of their social media experience must include clear labeling of ads they did not seek, as distinct from content they did seek,” noted Adam Schwartz, the Senior Staff Attorney at digital privacy nonprofit EFF. “If a platform is failing to label ads, it should correct this problem.”

In addition to potentially attracting the attention of the FTC or another regulatory investigation beyond the U.S., the flub with ad labeling is also a prominent stain on the resume of X’s newly hired CEO Linda Yaccarino, who joined the company in June from NBCUniversal where she had been chairman of its advertising and partnerships group. Her hiring was meant to signal to advertisers that a responsible adult who understood the business had been put in charge of the revenue-generating side of the Elon Musk-owned company.

Since Yaccarino’s hire, X has tried to lure back advertisers with a $250 ad credit and promises that advertisers could choose their own “sensitivity” settings when it came to brand safety. More recently, though, Elon Musk began blaming the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) accusations of antisemitism for X’s declining U.S. advertising revenues and threatened a lawsuit against the organization.

X no longer has a communications department that responds to press inquiries.

Nevertheless, we reached out to X for comment and received an automated email response that read: “Busy now, please check back later.” Previously, the company would respond to inquiries using the poop emoji.

More TechCrunch

We caught up with Antler founder and CEO Magnus Grimeland about the startup scene in Asia, the current tech startup trends in the region, and investment approaches during the rise…

VC firm Antler’s CEO says Asia presents ‘biggest opportunity’ in the world for growth

Temu is to face Europe’s strictest rules after being designated as a “very large online platform” under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Chinese e-commerce marketplace Temu faces stricter EU rules as a ‘very large online platform’

Meta has been banned from launching features on Facebook and Instagram that would have collected data on voters in Spain using the social networks ahead of next month’s European Elections.…

Spain bans Meta from launching election features on Facebook, Instagram over privacy fears

Stripe, the world’s most valuable fintech startup, said on Friday that it will temporarily move to an invite-only model for new account sign-ups in India, calling the move “a tough…

Stripe curbs its India ambitions over regulatory situation

The 2024 election is likely to be the first in which faked audio and video of candidates is a serious factor. As campaigns warm up, voters should be aware: voice…

Voice cloning of political figures is still easy as pie

When Alex Ewing was a kid growing up in Purcell, Oklahoma, he knew how close he was to home based on which billboards he could see out the car window.…

OneScreen.ai brings startup ads to billboards and NYC’s subway

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket could take to the skies for the fourth time on June 5, with the primary objective of evaluating the second stage’s reusable heat shield as the…

SpaceX sent Starship to orbit — the next launch will try to bring it back

Eric Lefkofsky knows the public listing rodeo well and is about to enter it for a fourth time. The serial entrepreneur, whose net worth is estimated at nearly $4 billion,…

Billionaire Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky is back with another IPO: AI health tech Tempus

TechCrunch Disrupt showcases cutting-edge technology and innovation, and this year’s edition will not disappoint. Among thousands of insightful breakout session submissions for this year’s Audience Choice program, five breakout sessions…

You’ve spoken! Meet the Disrupt 2024 breakout session audience choice winners

Check Point is the latest security vendor to fix a vulnerability in its technology, which it sells to companies to protect their networks.

Zero-day flaw in Check Point VPNs is ‘extremely easy’ to exploit

Though Spotify never shared official numbers, it’s likely that Car Thing underperformed or was just not worth continued investment in today’s tighter economic market.

Spotify offers Car Thing refunds as it faces lawsuit over bricking the streaming device

The studies, by researchers at MIT, Ben-Gurion University, Cambridge and Northeastern, were independently conducted but complement each other well.

Misinformation works, and a handful of social ‘supersharers’ sent 80% of it in 2020

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Okay, okay…

Tesla shareholder sweepstakes and EV layoffs hit Lucid and Fisker

In a series of posts on X on Thursday, Paul Graham, the co-founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, brushed off claims that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was pressured to resign…

Paul Graham claims Sam Altman wasn’t fired from Y Combinator

In its three-year history, EthonAI has amassed some fairly high-profile customers including Siemens and chocolate-maker Lindt.

AI manufacturing startup funding is on a tear as Switzerland’s EthonAI raises $16.5M

Don’t miss out: TechCrunch Disrupt early-bird pricing ends in 48 hours! The countdown is on! With only 48 hours left, the early-bird pricing for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 will end on…

Ticktock! 48 hours left to nab your early-bird tickets for Disrupt 2024

Biotech startup Valar Labs has built a tool that accurately predicts certain treatment outcomes, potentially saving precious time for patients.

Valar Labs debuts AI-powered cancer care prediction tool and secures $22M

Archer Aviation is partnering with ride-hailing and parking company Kakao Mobility to bring electric air taxi flights to South Korea starting in 2026, if the company can get its aircraft…

Archer, Kakao Mobility partner to bring electric air taxis to South Korea in 2026

Space startup Basalt Technologies started in a shed behind a Los Angeles dentist’s office, but things have escalated quickly: Soon it will try to “hack” a derelict satellite and install…

Basalt plans to ‘hack’ a defunct satellite to install its space-specific OS

As a teen model, Katrin Kaurov became financially independent at a young age. Aleksandra Medina, whom she met at NYU Abu Dhabi, also learned to manage money early on. The…

Former teen model co-created app Frich to help Gen Z be more realistic about finances

Can AI help you tell your story? That’s the idea behind a startup called Autobiographer, which leverages AI technology to engage users in meaningful conversations about the events in their…

Autobiographer’s app uses AI to help you tell your life story

AI-powered summaries of web pages are a feature that you will find in many AI-centric tools these days. The next step for some of these tools is to prepare detailed…

Perplexity AI’s new feature will turn your searches into shareable pages

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved…

ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

Battery recycling startups have emerged in Europe in a bid to tap into the next big opportunity in the EV market: battery waste.  Among them is Cylib, a German-based startup…

Cylib wants to own EV battery recycling in Europe

Amazon has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly its delivery drones longer distances, the company announced on Thursday. Amazon says it can now expand its…

Amazon gets FAA approval to expand US drone deliveries

With Plannin, creators can tell their audience about their latest trip, which hotels they liked and post photos of their travels.

Former Priceline execs debut Plannin, a booking platform that uses travel influencers to help plan trips

Amazon is rolling out its AI voice search feature to Alexa, which lets it answer open-ended questions about content.

Amazon is rolling out AI voice search to Fire TV devices

Redpanda has already integrated Benthos into its own service and has made it the core technology of its new Redpanda Connect service.

Redpanda acquires Benthos to expand its end-to-end streaming data platform

It’s a lofty goal to take on legacy payments infrastructure, however, Forward’s model has an advantage by shifting the economics back to SaaS companies.

Fintech startup Forward grabs $16M to take on Stripe, lead future of integrated payments

Fertility remains a pressing concern around the world — birthrates are down in many countries, and infertility rates (that is, the inability to conceive) are up. Rhea, a Singapore- and…

Rhea reaps $10M more led by Thiel