X, the company formerly known as Twitter, has started depreciating promoted accounts.

Moving forward, advertisers will no longer be able to promote their brands in timelines using the ad format, which makes more than $100 million in global revenue for the platform

Why we care. The removal of promoted accounts serves as a warning to advertisers as to why they should never rely too heavily on one ad product, as this move is inevitably going to negatively impact reach for some brands. However, given that promoted accounts has been so profitable for X, it’s highly probable that the platform will be unveiling some kind of replacement.

Why now? Since Elon Musk’s take-over last year, X has been trying to prioritize new ad products that leverage multi-media tools, such as video – which promoted accounts don’t have the capacity for. The hurried change is “part of a larger effort to optimize the X experience by prioritizing content formats”, according to an email from X obtained by Axios.

What are promoted accounts? Promoted accounts used to appear on the X timeline as text-based posts, along with a ‘Follow’ button, enabling users to start following brands with minimal effort. They are one of the oldest ad products on X so it will undoubtedly come as a shock to advertisers to see them go.

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What has X said? A representative from X acknowledged that many brands are heavily reliant on promoted accounts as part of their advertising strategies. The spokesperson added that the platform:

• “Will work to identify alternative routes to meet these goals.”

In the meantime, X is advising advertisers to explore its other ad products, such as engagement campaigns and reach campaigns.

Deep dive. Read X’s guide to building a community of engaged and loyal followers for more information.