Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has found itself in the midst of controversy once again, this time due to an alleged promotion of a video by popular YouTuber MrBeast. The video, titled “$1 Car vs $100,000,000 Car!!!,” was posted on X by MrBeast with the intention of testing the ad revenue potential on the platform.
However, X users have reported seeing the video multiple times in their feeds without any clear indication that it is an advertisement. The video lacks the usual “ad” or “promoted” tag, leading some to believe that it is an unlabeled ad. Mashable reported that the video also did not have the usual timestamp and ad indicators.
This issue of unlabeled ads on X has been a recurring problem since Musk’s acquisition of the platform in October 2022. Previously, X has been displaying unlabeled ads to users without the customary “ad” or “promoted” tag, and these ads do not have the usual post date seen on organic posts.
Check My Ads, an ad-tech watchdog, has filed a complaint against X with the FTC over this labeling issue. However, an X employee suggested that a labeled pre-roll video ad appearing before MrBeast’s video can be considered as the disclosure, which would explain the lack of an “ad” or “promoted” label on MrBeast’s post.
Despite the controversy surrounding the video, it has received over 138.4 million views on X. However, it is unclear how many of these views are actual impressions on the post itself and how many are from people who actually watched the video.
In May, Musk directed X to remove the public video view count feature from the platform, making it difficult to determine the actual number of views a video receives on X. MrBeast has promised to disclose how much he earns from X’s monetization program from this test, which has left users eagerly awaiting the results.
MrBeast has previously stated that the compensation from X would not cover a fraction of his video production costs. Despite this, he decided to test the ad revenue potential on X by uploading a video directly to the platform.
In his latest post regarding the video, MrBeast conducted a poll on X, asking his followers how much revenue they think his post with 124,000,000 views made.
With the ongoing debate surrounding unlabeled ads on X, it remains to be seen how the platform will address this issue and provide more transparency to its users. The controversy surrounding MrBeast’s video highlights the challenges of monetization and advertisement disclosure on social media platforms, and it raises important questions about the responsibility of platforms like X to ensure transparency and protect users from deceptive advertising practices.
Disclaimer: This article was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
