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Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has upended advertiser strategies again — this time by eliminating hashtags in ads and introducing pricing based on vertical screen space. While the move aims to create a premium ad experience, and designed to curb disruptive, oversized ads and refocus attention on cleaner, user-first content, Indian advertisers say it risks turning the platform from a walled garden into a concrete jungle: enclosed, expensive, and less culturally nimble.

A Closed Loop That Blocks Discovery

Gowthaman Ragothaman, media, advertising and marketing professional and CEO of Aqilliz, calls the removal of hashtags a direct hit on cross-platform targeting. “First, the removal and banning of hashtags essentially means that — see, you tag an ad even on X (or Twitter) only to find the same customer on other platforms. The hashtag ensures that their activities are synced up across platforms. By removing it, Musk has ensured that it’s not just a walled garden anymore — it’s a concrete jungle, right within their own ecosystem. Nothing moves outside the X ecosystem.”

That inward focus, he says, could trigger lower ad spending — a drop the company is trying to offset by charging for large-screen ad formats.

“That will automatically lead to a reduction in ad spends, and to compensate for that, he’s offering large-screen advertising so they can charge a premium and refill the revenue drop.”

While the rest of the ad world pushes for interoperability and cross-platform attribution, X seems to be going the other way, he adds.

“Technically speaking, platforms should become more interoperable. I’m surprised that he’s gone in the opposite direction — maybe because other platforms are trying to do something else in their own way. For example, Meta is going more toward commerce. X, currently, is not very friendly with e-commerce. The hashtag would lead the customer journey to another attribution — maybe a sale on another platform — which I think they are trying to avoid.”

As a result, advertisers will have to treat X as its own isolated strategy.

“What I think will happen is this: X — and reaching audiences on X — will now become a separate strategy altogether. If it works for some brands, they’ll spend more money. For brands it doesn’t work for, they won’t spend any money. So essentially, it will polarize brand choices.”

And while Musk’s attribution model may be tighter within his platform, it comes at the cost of transparency.

“He will use it for his own attribution, and he’ll give you very solid attribution. He’ll say, ‘You delivered ads on my platform? I can give you a pinpoint of the sales pack’ — but only on my own platform. So essentially, every walled garden is now becoming a concrete jungle.”

Making Every Pixel Count

Prashant Puri, Co-founder and CEO of AdLift, believes the move will reset how Indian brands think about creative. “Vertical-size-based ad pricing is going to change how Indian brands think about creative. It’s not just about making ads, it’s about making them work harder. Formats like carousels and full-screen videos will move from ‘nice to have’ to performance essentials.”

He says smaller, high-impact formats will likely become the norm in performance-driven campaigns. “This model will drive agencies to rethink the mix. Smaller, high-impact formats are going to get more airtime, especially in performance-driven campaigns. That doesn’t mean large formats disappear; they still deliver for brand-building. But when cost-efficiency is key, smaller units will be the default.”

Read More:<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/big-techs-role-misinformation-outpaced-moderation-as-india-pak-tensions-ignited-digital-crossfire-65374.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Big tech's role?: Misinformation outpaced moderation as India-Pak tensions ignited digital crossfire</a>

Vivek Kumar, Chief Strategy Officer at DViO Digital, frames this as a return to intentionality in advertising — a call to rethink what deserves visibility.

“This isn’t just a pricing model shift. It’s a provocation. A creative provocation… Vertical real estate is no longer free real estate. And that’s a good thing.”

“When every extra pixel costs more, brands are forced to pause. To question. To ask: What truly deserves to be here? The best Indian advertising has always come from constraint. This one just reintroduces a forgotten discipline — intentionality.”

Creative Budgets, Rewritten

Gopa Menon, Chief Growth Officer for APAC at Successive Digital, sees a broader shift in how Indian brands will reallocate their budgets, adopting a 70-20-10 model.

“I'm predicting most advertisers will shift toward a 70-20-10 strategy – putting the bulk of their budget into smaller, modular formats for everyday presence, reserving about 20% for strategic full-screen moments during big events like IPL finals or Diwali, and keeping 10% for testing what actually works.”

He adds that the hashtag ban will hit India harder than other markets.

“The hashtag ban is particularly disruptive for Indian brands who've relied heavily on trending tags for festival campaigns and regional marketing. Without #Diwali2025 or cricket hashtags, brands will need to get much better at creating naturally shareable content and building genuine communities around their products.”

The Battle for Culture

Sindhu Biswal, CEO and Founder of Buzzlab, calls the pricing model a double-edged sword — both a revenue move and a creative challenge.

“On one side, the step taken of charging for vertical screen space feels like a cash grab, but on the other, it forces brands to rethink lazy creative… Bottom line is creativity will matter more than ever. If you’re paying extra for impact, your work better earn every pixel.”

He believes X could lose its cultural relevance in India unless it rolls out new tools to match competitors.

“It risks pushing X further down the list for brands chasing cultural lightning in India. Platforms like Instagram and YouTube Shorts are working on increasing the features that help brands ride culture in real time… Unless X pairs these changes with killer new ad tools or creative formats, it risks becoming a stiffer, more expensive space for the very brands that once thrived on its chaotic, trend-driven energy.”

That cultural shift also threatens how virality has traditionally worked on X — especially for influencer-led campaigns built on hashtag traction.

“It might not kill demand. What it will do is change the playbook… The days of leveraging a catchy hashtag into virality on X are gone,” says Sahil Chopra, Founder and CEO, iCubesWire.

In short: brands that once counted on X’s open, messy and reactive environment will now have to pay for clarity. And in doing so, they will need to decide whether the new rules are worth the price of relevance.

Read More:<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/ai-vs-agencies-mark-zuckerbergs-vision-of-ad-disruption-sparks-debate-in-india-65474.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">AI vs. Agencies: Mark Zuckerberg's vision of ad disruption sparks debate in India</a>

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Advertisers on X’s hashtag ban and vertical ad pricing: Inward focus could trigger lower ad spends

Since Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as "X", the platform has faced mounting challenges in navigating global regulations, resulting in exits, bans or severe restrictions in several countries. These actions underscore the tensions between global social media platforms and governments, particularly concerning content control, free speech and censorship.

While a ban would be unprecedented in the West, the platform has already been restricted in several countries worldwide. It is currently blocked in China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. 

Among these, Pakistan is the only country where the service was banned after Musk's takeover in 2022. This ban came into effect in February 2024, just before the country's election, a move that drew widespread criticism from democracy advocates.

In Europe, X has encountered significant challenges, particularly in France. The first major incident occurred in 2013 when a French judge ordered Twitter to reveal the identity of a user posting anti-Semitic tweets. Failure to comply would have resulted in hefty fines for the company. In 2022, French authorities again criticized the platform for its lax approach to misinformation after X withdrew from a voluntary EU code of practice on the issue. 

Jean-Noël Barrot, former French digital minister, warned in March 2023 that "disinformation is one of the gravest threats weighing on our democracies" and suggested that Twitter could face a ban in the EU if it continued to violate regulations. While this threat has not yet materialized, X was banned from French government employees' phones in the same month, alongside TikTok.

Additionally, X faces partial restrictions in India, South Korea, and Tanzania, reflecting the platform's ongoing struggles to balance local regulations with its global operations.

More recently, in a dramatic move, X announced it will cease its operations in Brazil effective immediately. However, the platform will remain accessible to Brazilian users, despite the shutdown of its local operations.

The decision came as X found itself entangled in a high-profile legal battle with Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes had previously sought to block certain accounts on X as part of an investigation into election disinformation and alleged "digital militias."

In a statement posted on X's global government affairs account, the company claimed that Moraes had "threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders." The statement further elaborated, "To protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operations in Brazil, effective immediately. The X service remains available to the people of Brazil."

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/x-announces-closure-of-operations-in-brazil-services-to-continue-39890.htm">Read more: X announces closure of operations in Brazil, services to continue</a>

X's global run-ins: A growing challenge for Elon Musk's social media platform

In a dramatic move, X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has announced it will cease its operations in Brazil effective immediately. However, the platform will remain accessible to Brazilian users, despite the shutdown of its local operations.

The decision comes as X finds itself entangled in a high-profile legal battle with Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes had previously sought to block certain accounts on X as part of an investigation into election disinformation and alleged "digital militias."

In a statement posted on X's global government affairs account, the company claimed that Moraes had "threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders." The statement further elaborated, "To protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operations in Brazil, effective immediately. The X service remains available to the people of Brazil."

The accounts targeted by Moraes include those of a pastor, a current parliamentarian, and the wife of a former parliamentarian, according to earlier posts from X. The company's action follows a previous criminal enquiry opened by Moraes into Elon Musk, the owner of X, after Musk indicated he would defy a court order by lifting restrictions on certain accounts. Although the company initially appeared to resist the order, it eventually complied by blocking the accounts.

The legal dispute has further inflamed political tensions in Brazil. Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was defeated in 2022 elections and barred from seeking office again for eight years due to alleged election fraud claims, have criticized Moraes and called for his impeachment. Bolsonaro, who met with Musk during his presidency, has been vocal in his criticism of Moraes, and Musk himself has suggested that the justice should "resign or be impeached."

In its statement, X emphasized that its Brazilian staff had no control over content blocking decisions, positioning the decision as one of principle. The company framed the situation as a choice between "democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes."

ELON MUSK