X (formerly Twitter) is currently experimenting with a new advertising format that automatically connects user posts with related products.
The latest feature inserts a recommendation below posts that mention a company for its services, that efficiently turns regular mentions into product promotions.
The new ad format places a product recommendation beneath a post, referencing a brand and its offering.
Initially, the test was spotted by a European user, showing a suggestion to “Get Starlink” beneath a post from a user that praised Starlink’s satellite service in Portugal. After tapping, the link directed users to Starlink’s website.
X head of product Nikita Bier confirmed the test on X, writing, “trying to make an ad product that isn’t an ad.”
Currently, the Starlink promotion remains invisible to all users. However, the placeholder where the ad appears is still visible on specific posts.
The experiment comes a few days after the Elon Musk owned site introduced Paid Partnership labels for creators.
The labels can be applied to posts to follow the rules of social media advertising, rather than needing creators to use a hashtag like “ad” or “paid partnership.”
This will let users better compete against larger social networks, including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
The company this week also revamped its Creator Subscriptions providing with a number of new features, including the ability to monetize individual threads.
Moreover, X announced on Friday that the incorporated chatbot Grok is now capable of reading X’s long-form content, known as Articles.
