X plans to introduce a new advertising pricing structure that will charge marketers based on the vertical size of their promotional content, according to statements from owner Elon Musk. The change will mean advertisements occupying a full screen will cost more than those taking up a quarter of the display.

According to Social Media Today, the forthcoming adjustment aims to address current incentives that favor larger advertisements. Under the existing system, advertisers can occupy varying amounts of screen space depending on their visual attachments, while paying the same rates regardless of size.

“X is moving to charging for ads based on vertical size, so an ad that takes up the whole screen would cost more than an ad that takes up 1/4 of the screen, otherwise the incentive is to create giant ads that impair the user experience,” Musk explained in a post.

The platform currently allows variations in ad size across text, image, and video formats. Text elements are capped at 180 characters before being hidden behind a “show more” tag, while images and videos have specific size restrictions. Community Notes alerts can further extend the space an advertisement occupies.

Size-based pricing has not yet been implemented, and no details about the new pricing structure are available in X’s ad pricing documentation. 

Recent Hashtag Ban in Ads

The announcement follows X’s recent decision to prohibit hashtags in all Promoted Posts, which was similarly positioned as an aesthetic improvement for the platform.

Musk described hashtags in ads as an “aesthetic nightmare” when announcing the ban.

The hashtag prohibition aligns with previous Twitter ad team guidance that cautioned against using hashtags in promotions: “Hashtags link to all the other mentions of that phrase, and are useful if you’re focused on engagement. But, if your goal is to have people go to your website or follow your account, you don’t want to risk someone clicking on a hashtag instead of your call-to-action.”