X tests new ad format that includes product mention links

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X could soon offer a new ad format connected to product mentions within user posts in the app, and launched a small-scale test of this new ad display.

Last week, X user @levelsio noticed that X added a Starlink promotion beneath one of his posts that mentioned Starlink.

The small “Get Starlink” CTA at the bottom of this post links the reader through to the Starlink website for more information about the product.

Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, responded to the post, and said X is “trying to make an ad product that isn’t an ad.”

Bier then further explained that the idea of the format is to tie into organic mentions in the app, and said users would not be compensated for ads displayed in this way because it would skew the incentives for such mentions.

It’s an interesting idea, though X will likely have to ensure that the ads are only displayed in connection to positive mentions of a product. But if X can work out that element, it could be a simple, handy connector to relevant products, based on user mentions, with advertisers paying a variable fee based on the amount of times these links are displayed to users.

X is working to improve the value of its ad offerings in order to win back ad partners and bring in more revenue to power its expanding artificial intelligence projects.

With the platform merging with xAI in March last year, that means that their resources are now combined. As Bloomberg reported in June, xAI is currently burning through $1 billion in cash per month as it works to build out its AI infrastructure. That means both companies need to find more money, and fast, to maintain their momentum. While xAI merged with SpaceX in February, further expanding its combined revenue pool, the new entity still needs to find more funding sources to funnel into owner Elon Musk’s broader AI vision.

X reportedly brought in around $2.9 billion in total revenue for 2025, which would be a 10% year-over-year increase on its 2024 revenue result. But that’s still well below the $4.4 billion Twitter reportedly made in 2022, according to Investopedia. That was also the final year before Elon Musk took over the company.

X needs to boost usage and improve its ad offerings to win back ad partners and get its business back on track. It’s already reduced costs as much as it can through staff and infrastructure cuts.

Though on the usage front, things aren’t looking great.

X’s most recent EU user disclosure report — the only insight the company shares now that it’s no longer a publicly listed entity — showed that X lost 15% of its active users in the EU in the second half of 2025.

X had actually seen an uptick in usage in the first half of 2025, reporting just over 76 million active EU users. But that dropped by 11 million in the last six months of the year, with X registering 64.8 million users in the region.

If that trend holds for other markets, then X could be in for a tough battle to win back ad partners. Meanwhile, Musk’s past criticisms of X’s potential ad partners likely also still sticks in the minds of at least some high-powered execs.

But maybe, with new ad offerings, X could still drive more interest, and contextual mentions could be an interesting option. And with 100 million original updates shared in the app every day, along with another 100 million replies, that’s a lot of potential for brand mentions, assuming X chooses to move ahead with this project.