X unveils advertiser control feature to safeguard brands from controversial content

X, formerly Twitter, has announced that it will introduce a feature enabling advertisers to display ads alongside specific content creators. This move aims to grant advertisers control over ensuring their ads steer clear of controversial or offensive material. The initiative follows a wave of ad withdrawals from X last year, triggered by ads being displayed alongside pro-Nazi content.

In a recent blog post, the company announced the rollout of Creator Targeting, allowing advertisers to run pre-roll video ads against the chosen creators' content in both the home timeline and profile. Moreover, X plans to soon enable brands to exclusively serve ads on individual creators' profiles, thus eliminating the risk of appearing alongside unwanted posts.

This announcement likely serves as an effort to entice advertisers back to X, as the company's advertising revenue has plummeted since Elon Musk assumed leadership. X's advertising revenue dropped by 50% in the past year, falling short of its $3 billion target with an estimated $2.5 billion in revenue for 2023. This contrasts sharply with the $1 billion per quarter generated in 2022, dwindling to approximately $600 million per quarter in 2023.

X reports that over 80,000 creators have shared their content on the platform since launching its ad revenue-sharing program last July.