X Plans to Wind Down Promoted Accounts Offering

X, formerly known as Twitter, is ending its promoted accounts offering.

Promoted accounts, which are also known as “Follower Objective” ads, are one of the platform’s oldest ad formats and generate $100 million of its annual revenue, Axios reported Tuesday (Aug. 15), citing an unnamed source.

Its winding down began last Friday, the report said, citing an email sent by X to advertisers.

This offering enabled advertisers to attract new followers by promoting their accounts within the X timeline, with text-based posts that included a “follow” button, according to the report.

The change “comes as part of a larger effort to optimize the X experience by prioritizing content formats,” X said.

The promoted account ads were static, contrasting X’s aims to use more video and other multimedia tools, according to the report.

As an alternative to that ad format, X is recommending ad units that put the advertiser’s name and account at the forefront of the ad, and reach campaigns that deliver more impressions.

This news comes five days after X CEO Linda Yaccarino said during a live audio event on the platform that X will continue rolling out brand-safety tools for advertisers as it aims to protect brands while also remaining committed to free speech.

Brand-safety tools rolled out by the platform in recent months include a “keyword avoidance tool” that enables brands to better control the content their ads are appearing next to, and another tool now being tested that involves settings around sensitive content, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (Aug. 10).

“Think about it in terms of brand safety: I wrap a safety blanket around you, my brand, my chief marketing officer, and say your ads will only air next to content that is appropriate for you, of your choice,” Yaccarino said at the time.

Yaccarino, who was NBCUniversal’s head of advertising before becoming CEO of X, is seen by some ad buyers as a “known quantity” who understands brands and their desire for stability and content moderation. This has helped X in its efforts to gain back advertisers.