X is quietly testing a fresh ad format that tucks a product recommendation right under a post that mentions the brand. In the first trial, a user in Europe saw a “Get Starlink” prompt appear beneath a tweet praising the satellite service’s performance in Portugal. Clicking the link took the reader straight to Starlink’s website. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, confirmed the move, saying the team is “trying to make an ad product that isn’t an ad.”
The promotion isn’t live for everyone yet; most users only see an empty placeholder where the suggestion could appear. On March 6, the account @levelsio posted a tweet that now shows an outlined box under the text. In regions where the test is active, the box displays the Starlink offer; elsewhere it shows a random X post. Some commenters immediately spotted the change, with one asking if a “Starlink button” had been added. When asked whether affiliate links should be allowed in the slot, Bier replied that it would invite dishonesty and that he wants to keep recommendations trustworthy.
The rollout arrives just after X introduced “Paid Partnership” labels for creators, giving them a way to meet advertising regulations without slapping a hashtag like #ad on every post. If future sponsored content can pair a creator’s endorsement with an embedded product link, X could lure more marketers to its platform. That might give the service a better shot at competing with Instagram, YouTube and TikTok for creator attention.
X has been chasing creator tools for years, even before it adopted the single‑letter name and before Elon Musk took the helm. To date, the company has rolled out payouts for viral hits, revenue‑sharing ads, subscription options and a handful of other experiments. This week it refreshed its Creator Subscriptions, adding the ability to monetize individual threads.
The platform also announced that its AI chatbot, Grok, can now read X’s long‑form Articles. In practice, creators still prefer publishing extensive pieces on their own sites or newsletters, so the feature remains underused.
Hot take: X’s attempt to blur the line between content and commerce feels more like a gimmick than a game‑changer, and it will take more than a clever placeholder to win over serious marketers.
Via X is testing a new ad format that connects posts with products | TechCrunch
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