Just as Elon goes to battle against the broader ad industry, X is also looking to help users avoid ads entirely in the app, with those paying for X Premium+, its most expensive subscription package, now set to get a totally ad-free X experience.
No ads has always been a part of X’s Premium+ package, but that didn’t actually apply to all places that ads can be displayed.
The original “ad free” element was outlined as:
“Premium+ tier subscribers see no ads in the For You and Following Timelines. This feature does not apply to promoted content elsewhere on X, including but not limited to ads on profiles, ads in post replies, ads in Immersive Media Viewer, promoted events in Explore, promoted trends, and promoted accounts to follow.”
So while Premium+ subscribers were paying for an ad-free experience, they’d still see ads in search pages, on profiles and (most importantly) within post replies.
Which is relevant for X’s creator monetization scheme, but we’ll get to that.
Now, the updated wording for this element of Premium+ reads:
“Subscribers to the Premium+ tier will enjoy an ad-free experience across most areas of X, including the For You timeline, Following timeline, post replies, and profiles, ensuring a smoother and more uninterrupted content experience.”
Note: Post reply ads will not be shown to Premium+ subscribers.
X does note that Premium+ subscribers might still “occasionally” see sponsored content outside of X’s standard ad inventory. But for the most part, ad-free now means exactly that, with those paying top dollar to use the app now able to largely remove all ads from view.
Which is in line with Musk’s own disdain for ads, as well as his broader mission to move X away from ads as its key revenue stream.
As part of Musk’s initial takeover plan, he outlined his ambition to generate 50% of X’s revenue from subscriptions, lessening the need for ad intake. That would solve X’s revenue challenges, a long-running struggle for the company, while also reducing the need to bow to advertiser demands around moderation, which Musk views as forced censorship.
Indeed, that last element is at the core of X’s new lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and its chief coordinator, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which X claims have both participated in a coordinated effort to steer advertisers away from X, in order to exert more control over its moderation decisions.
That, in X’s view, is a violation of its free speech principles, which is why it’s pushing back. But regardless of the outcome, the end result is that because of Elon Musk’s more lenient approach to moderation, and the content that can be shared in the app, more advertisers are rethinking their X campaigns. Which has seen X suffer a more than 50% drop in ad revenue since Musk took over at the company.
Which is why X needs more of its user base to pay for X subscriptions.
And it does, seemingly, still have a passionate core user cohort, even if X Premium subscriptions haven’t been as popular as Musk had initially hoped.
Because while X hasn’t added to its daily active user count in 20 months, it has reported that overall time spent in the app is increasing. Which means that many of its most dedicated users are using the app more and more, which could also suggest that they’re increasing their attachment to it, and thus, they may be more likely to buy a subscription at some stage.
Though it is also worth noting that if more people take up this actual ad-free Premium+ tier, that’ll also decrease the monetization potential for X’s top creators.
X’s creator ad revenue share program enables creators to get a cut of ad revenue based on ads displayed in their reply streams. Thus, the more replies a creator generates with their content, the more ads are shown, but every new person signing up for X Premium+ will now effectively reduce the audience for these ads.
So X’s most passionate users, who are likely those benefiting most from the scheme, would also be reducing their group revenue intake by paying for Premium+. Also, you have to subscribe to X Premium, the second-highest tier, to access the creator revenue share program, and you have to pay for Premium+ to access X Articles.
So, effectively, X is asking its top users to pay for a scheme that’ll cut the cumulative income for other top users.
It’s an odd sell, but then again, X also knows that YouTube Premium has seen solid success, largely based on the fact that it enables users to avoid ads.
I doubt that will have the same appeal on X, as X ads aren’t as disruptive. But maybe, a broader no ads offer will hold more appeal. Even if it does undercut creators in the app.
