Is X’s new “ad” format illegal? Why it’s causing a stir in the US | WIRED.jp
X (oldTwitter) a new type ofadvertisementThe news site “Mashable” has reported thatreportedThat was in early October. At first glance, the ad looks like a regular post, although it doesn’t have the handle or username that a typical post would have. A reduced version of the image displayed in the text is used as an avatar. There is no “ad” displayed in the upper right corner, and even if you want to learn about the advertiser, you cannot click on it.
“What the hell is this? I can’t click it, there’s no account name, no username. I feel like screaming ‘what the heck is this?’ It’s not even an ad,” one user wrote.Posting. X’s new advertising interface may be more than just a nuisance. This is because it may be illegal.
US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) LawArticle 5prohibits deceptive advertising practices by companies. In other words, consumers must be able to clearly understand whether something is an advertisement or not. If you run native ads on social media (ads that look like platform content), you need to clearly identify them as ads.
“There is no question that X is misleading consumers by not disclosing information,” said Sarah Kay Wylie, director of policy and partnerships at advertising industry watchdog group Check My Ads. says. “Consumers can’t tell the difference between regular content and paid content. Even I, who work in this field, have been fooled.”
We have asked X for comment, but have not received a response at this time.
Problem with ad posts that don’t say “ad”
X has two feeds. “Following” displays content from accounts you follow, and “Recommended” displays algorithmic recommendations from across the platform. Wiley from Check My Ads said he saw this “ad-free” advertising content in both feeds.
Even more confusing for users is the fact that some content is still marked as “ads.” “It’s a truly outrageous situation because some of it is clearly labeled as an advertisement. It’s definitely providing an opportunity for fraudulent marketers to reach out to consumers.”
“We require platforms to use a consistent format for advertising disclosures to avoid user confusion,” said an attorney with the FTC’s advertising division, who spoke on condition of anonymity. .
According to Wiley, compliance issues can arise if an advertiser believes that X is doing so when it is not actually labeled as such. The reason is that the posted content is not properly disclosed as an advertisement. “Advertisers themselves are victims,” Wiley says.
The situation becomes complicated and troublesome
It’s no secret that X is desperate to scrape together advertising revenue. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter, has announced a reduction in content moderation and has fired many moderators.As a result, brands worried about their ads appearing next to false or hateful content are increasinglyI broke up with X.
Musk is an experienced advertising mogul trying to salvage the situation.Linda Yaccarino(However, Musk acted in a way that contradicted Yaccarino’s promise to make the platform safe for advertisers and undermined her reputation.)hurt repeatedly).recent dataAccording to , X’s advertising revenue fell 42% after the acquisition.
