‘This Is a False Advertisement’: X Ads Are Being Challenged By Reader Context

livemint.com:

Fact-checking notes on X are making some advertisers more cautious about spending on the social-media platform. X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2021 began allowing a group of volunteers to collaborate on “Community Notes" meant to provide additional context or information about both unpaid posts and paid ads on the platform. Notes first became visible to all Twitter users in 2022, but their prevalence has increased significantly this year.

Elon Musk, who acquired the company last year, has praised Community Notes as key to making X a more reliable source of information, but told CNBC in May that X had lost $40 million in revenue after two unnamed advertisers had notes added to their posts. Ads for brands from Apple to Uber have in recent months been called out for making allegedly false or misleading claims. Results vary.

Uber deleted an ad with a critical Community Note, while Apple’s Community Note later disappeared when other members of the notes community weighed in against it. One note accused an ad for videogame company Evony of showing action that is different from what takes place in the game, telling X users, “This is a false advertisement." Evony couldn’t be reached for comment. Political ads will likely face even greater scrutiny as the 2024 election cycle heats up, according to experts.