X is running ads in the replies of posts that violate its rules

Elon Musk’s X placed ads for dozens of brands in the replies below posts that appear to violate the company’s rules against hateful content, Check My Ads observed in a sampling of replies and quote tweets.

We can’t put a number on how often these bad ad placements happen. For its part, X has asserted that it’s “extraordinarily rare.”

But there’s a setting buried in X’s ad manager that brands can use to try to mitigate this. Our investigation was prompted by Elon Musk replatforming known white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

While Fuentes himself appears to be demonetized, the white nationalist is surrounded by an ecosystem of accounts, some apparently monetized, that quote tweet him, follow him, reply to him, or spread his message. We analyzed those accounts, as well as other white nationalist accounts that are followers-of-followers of Fuentes. 

Throughout our research, Check My Ads saw ads for over 40 different brands below posts that appeared to break X’s rules, including engaging in hateful conduct.

The affected brands were big and small. They included Semafor, the National CPR Foundation, Cheech & Chong, SEGA, Edmunds, Allbirds, several academic journals, McAfee, Nikon, and a traveling reptile expo called Repticon.

Read our full report here, and watch Investigative Reporter Rachel’s breakdown of her story on TikTok.

Now you see it, now you don’t

Director of Intelligence Arielle Garcia had a quote in Digiday’s piece about a DoubleVerify report — or did she?

Shortly after publication, her quote criticizing DoubleVerify’s plans to fight harmful AI with “good AI” was cut from the story. DoubleVerify apparently didn't like it. They seemingly demanded that Digiday remove the quote and issue a correction. 

Thankfully the internet is forever, and you can read Arielle’s quotes in full in an archived version of the piece. This incident says a lot about adtech and its intimidation of the trade press that covers it — none of it good.

Arielle posted her full thoughts on all this on LinkedIn, and you should read them.

Arielle, elsewhere:

🎯 Google has “captured” the biggest trade associations and ad agencies, and the user data being traded is absolute garbage: That’s the message Arielle had for listeners of Mi3’s podcast.

🔐 Mozilla bought the ad firm Anonym, and Arielle has questions about that. “Privacy-enhancing tech doesn’t make creepy and disruptive ads less creepy or disruptive in the eyes of the average user,” she told The Register.

All right, stop! Paneltime!

Open Markets Institute and The Guardian are holding a panel on how to fix America’s information crisis, and Director of Policy Sarah Kay Wiley is a panelist! It’s happening June 27 in Washington, it’s free, and you can get online or in-person tickets at Eventbrite!

The site may be micro, but it's macro where it counts

We're launching a microsite on Monday for all things Google antitrust trial. In the lead-up to the September showdown between Google and the DOJ, and after the trial begins, we'll keep you up to date with what's going on. The site is in partnership with the American Economics Liberty Project, Open Markets Institute, Center for Journalism and Liberty, Accountable Tech, and others. 

We'll also be starting a series of explainers on adtech so by the time the trial starts, you'll know your SSPs from your CTVs and your CPCs. More soon! 

That’s all from us for this week. Thanks for being here with us and we’ll talk to you soon!

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