Musk announces changes to ad rules on X

Elon Musk has announced that X will start charging advertisers based on how much vertical space their ads take up. Full-screen ads will cost more than smaller ones to prevent oversized, disruptive content that clutters users’ feeds.

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At the same time, X is limiting the use of hashtags in ads. Musk shared the update directly on X, saying both changes are meant to improve the user experience and make advertising more balanced and effective.

�� is moving to charging for ads based on vertical size, so an ad that takes up the whole screen would cost more than an ad that takes up 1/4 of the screen, otherwise the incentive is to create giant ads that impair the user experience
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 27, 2025

Hashtags were once a useful tool for discovering content on social media, but their overuse—especially by spammers—has led to a cluttered and frustrating experience for users. As platforms have shifted to algorithm-driven feeds that favour engagement over hashtags, their relevance has faded. Instagram, for example, has phased out the ability to follow hashtags, and posts tied to followed topics no longer show up in the main feed. Previously on X, Elon Musk has openly discouraged hashtag use, calling them visually unappealing.