X is experimenting with a new advertising feature that places a recommendation directly beneath posts mentioning a company or its products. In one early example noticed by a user in Europe, a post praising Starlink’s satellite internet service in Portugal was followed by a prompt saying “Get Starlink,” which linked users directly to the company’s website.
X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, confirmed that the feature is currently being tested. Responding to the example online, he said the goal is to build “an ad product that isn’t an ad,” suggesting the company wants the recommendation to feel more natural within conversations on the platform.
At the moment, the Starlink recommendation is not visible to all users. However, the placeholder where the feature appears can still be seen. For example, when visiting X user @levelsio’s March 6 post, an outlined box appears below the text. In regions where the ad test is not active, the box currently displays a random X post instead.
Users who could see the test quickly noticed the addition. One commenter jokingly asked whether the Starlink button had been added to the post. In the same discussion thread, Bier also responded to a suggestion that the space could be used for affiliate links. He dismissed the idea, saying it could encourage misleading recommendations, adding that he wants people to trust the suggestions they see on the platform.
X did not immediately respond to requests for comment, though updates may follow if the company provides more details.
The experiment comes shortly after X introduced new “Paid Partnership” labels for creators. These labels allow influencers to clearly mark sponsored posts to comply with advertising regulations, replacing the need to use hashtags such as #ad or #paidpartnership.
If the new recommendation feature is eventually combined with creators’ sponsored posts, it could make the platform more attractive to advertisers and marketers. This, in turn, may encourage more creators to use X, helping the platform compete with creator-focused networks like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
X has been trying to strengthen its creator ecosystem for years, even before the platform was rebranded and acquired by Elon Musk. The company has launched several creator-focused tools, including revenue sharing from ads, payouts for viral content, subscription options, and other monetization features.
Earlier this week, X also updated its Creator Subscriptions program with new capabilities, such as allowing creators to monetize individual discussion threads.
Additionally, the company announced that its built-in AI chatbot, Grok, can now read and process long-form posts on X known as Articles. Despite this feature, long written content on the platform remains relatively underused, as many creators still prefer publishing detailed material on their own websites or through newsletters.
