Users of Elon Musk’s X have reportedly been seeing a new ad format emerging that can be neither reported, nor blocked and is not clearly signposted as an advertisement.

The so-called ‘clickbait’ style ads are currently being tested by the social media network and do not contain the usual ‘ad’ or ‘promoted’ label, instead appearing in users’ ‘For You’ feeds as regular posts.

When users click on the ads, they are re-directed to low-quality ‘spam’ style third-party websites. The posts cannot be liked or re-tweeted and the advertiser’s identity is withheld by X.

https://twitter.com/flipnotemachine/status/1706550158043869572?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1706550158043869572%7Ctwgr%5Ec0567cd88002d8eed2ce745f5bac0d982ed776bb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.campaignlive.co.uk%2Farticle%2Felon-musks-x-running-clickbait-ads-cant-reported-blocked%2F1840241

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Users report that these ads often mirror clickbait-style, ad farm website content with posts containing messages such as “This Seems Unbelievable, But Happens in Dubai Everyday,” or “If you suffer from ringing ears (Tinnitus), you’re going to love this recent breakthrough.”

This latest move is a further indication of the social media platform’s decline under Musk, who admitted over the summer that X’s advertising revenue had fallen by as much as 50% since his takeover.

In other news, X’s long-serving vice-president of global sales and marketing, Chris Riedy has stepped down after 11 years with the company, indicating further turmoil at the firm’s top table.