X to charge advertisers for "ugly" ads in new "aesthetic score" push

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is shaking up its advertising policies. In a move to combat what it calls "spammy-type advertising," X is now incentivizing advertisers to create more aesthetically pleasing ads by offering lower rates for those that adhere to new guidelines. The company's head of Americas, Monique Pintarelli, said the goal is to create a "better user experience" and "a better brand opportunity" for advertisers.

X's new policy recommends that ad copy avoid excessive use of hashtags, symbols, and grammatical errors. It also suggests limiting ads to no more than one emoji, with exceptions for the Japanese and Korean markets. Additionally, visual media should not be "gimmicky, excessively cropped, or indecipherable."

The platform will assign an "aesthetic score" to every ad, which will become a component of its broader ad quality score. Ads that align with X's new aesthetic values will receive lower CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) in the ad auction, making them more affordable for advertisers. Conversely, ads that don't meet the guidelines will come at a higher price and be "algorithmically suppressed" in user feeds. According to Pintarelli, "If your ad is not as good and you want to break through, it’s going to cost you more to do so."

X is also integrating AI into its advertising products. A new "Explain this post" button, powered by Grok, xAI’s flagship chatbot, will now be available on ads. This tool can act as a fact-checking mechanism, scanning an advertiser’s website and other web sources to verify claims. While X's goal is to increase transparency, Grok's accuracy has been inconsistent in the past. This new feature follows the company's recent rollout of other AI-powered tools for advertisers, including generative AI creative and measurement tools.

Since Elon Musk's acquisition in 2022 and the subsequent rebranding to X, the company's ad business has faced significant challenges. Brands like Apple, Comcast, and Disney pulled their advertising from the platform amid content concerns, and users have reported an increase in low-quality ads. While Pintarelli denies that the new policy is a direct response to these accusations, she stated that "filtering out these spammy ads is a good thing for our users."

Despite these challenges, X’s advertising business is showing signs of recovery. eMarketer projects the company's global ad revenue will reach $2.46 billion in 2025, a 16.5% increase from the previous year. However, this figure is still only 55% of the company's 2021 revenue of $4.46 billion.

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