X, formerly known as Twitter, has been struggling to get advertisers back to the platform since Elon Musk took over. The company has been trying out new ways to encourage them back such as incentives and new tools, but the social media site just can't stop shooting itself in the foot.
X Screws Up, Again
The Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to fostering the First Amendment is among the advertisers who have just returned to X. Although, the platform certainly isn't winning any points as it blocks one of its ads in error.
The advertisement was about an educational festival meant to celebrate the First Amendment, which protects the freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. As you know, Musk is an advocate of free speech, but he's not exactly a fan of the press.
Although it's unlikely that it has something to do with the error in blocking the ads, it does put a dark cloud above the matter. The Freedom Forum tried reaching out to X several times to get to the bottom of things and learn why the ad was blocked.
As exclusively reported by Ars Technica, in all the six times they contacted X, they were given a different reason. The automated response states that the ad violated the political content policy, which restricts ads that reference legislation.
Freedom Forum, in response, said that educating the public about their First Amendment rights shouldn't be considered referencing legislation. It was the first time that the foundation encountered this kind of problem, according to Freedom Forum's chief digital officer, Doug Neil.
He stated that in their charter, they were not allowed to advocate for any legislation or bills themselves, adding that they were advocates for the First Amendment, which is not the same as "sending notes to your congressman" to change or repeal it.
The foundation is running the ad on other platforms like Instagram and Facebook without a hitch. To make matters worse, X has completely blocked Freedom Forum's account from posting ads.
The company said that it has reconfirmed with the team that their account does not qualify for ads on X. After a while, X reasoned that the block was a system error. The platform eventually fixed the mistake and the foundation is now able to run ads once again.
Maybe $250 Will Change Advertisers' Minds
X, in an attempt to encourage advertisers to use the platform for their advertisements, is giving away $250 in ad credits to eligible customers. The catch? They have to spend at least $1,000 in ads first before they can get the reward.
In addition to that, the account will have to be verified, meaning that they can add the cost of X Blue to the list of payments. The ad credits are specifically meant for small to medium businesses or SMBs, and the ad credits can only be used within the platform.
Without a credit card on file, the account will also not be able to claim the reward, even after subscribing to the verification plan and spending at least $1,000 in ad credits. If the advertiser uses a different currency, the $250 ad credits will be converted.
