Why X’s ad ‘comeback’ doesn’t match reality
January 2026
Claims that X’s advertising business is “back” have travelled fast — but the data tells a more complicated story. While some advertisers may have technically resumed spend, confidence, scale and strategic intent remain very much in question.
In Digiday’s Future of Marketing Briefing, our Director of Paid Media, Mark Byrne, explains why X has slipped down client wishlists and is rarely pushed proactively in media plans. He outlines how concerns around brand safety, transparency and content governance continue to weigh heavily on decision-making, and why, for many advertisers, appearing on X is increasingly a by-product of automation rather than a deliberate choice.
“There’s a big difference between a genuine return to X as a planned, strategic platform and X appearing in delivery as a side effect of automated buying,” Byrne says. “For some advertisers, it goes beyond traditional brand safety into whether they want to be associated with certain environments at all. That makes controls, exclusions and transparency more important than ever.”
