Elon Musk's X Starts Getting Rid of News Headlines and Links in Some Feeds

Different users of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, have reported not seeing news links and headlines on new posts, a move that had been anticipated by its owner, Elon Musk, but not materialized yet.

A Latin Times post in a desktop computer shows the changes. The example is shown below:

The new format, which might not show on all operational systems yet, only displays the publication's caption, the featured image and the website's link on the bottom left corner.

Earlier this month, Musk had confirmed a Fortune report about the prospective change, saying it was coming "directly" from him and that it would "greatly improve estethics."

X CEO Linda Yaccarino reiterated in the Code Conference last week that Musk oversees the company's product and feature development while she deals with business and operational affairs.

It's not yet clear how the change could impact users' experience on the social media platform at a time when it seeks to keep them engaged and recover lost revenue. According to a Reuters report, monthly U.S. ad revenue at X has declined at least 55% year-over-year each month since Musk took over in October 2022.

The report, based on data from ad analytics firm Guideline, showed that in December 2022 ad revenue in the country dropped 78% compared to the same month of the previous year. The last available figures are from August this year and show a 60% inter-annual decline.

Musk has repeatedly acknowledged that the platform lost advertisers since his $44 billion takeover, claiming activists with political agendas were pressuring them. Last month, he accused the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of being the primary cause behind a 60% decline in U.S. ad revenue, even saying he would "file a defamation lawsuit" against it. Following the public feud, the ADL said this Wednesday it would resume spending on X after the pause.

In another passage of the Code Conference, Yaccarino said 1,500 brands had returned to X in the previous 12 weeks and that 90% of the top 100 advertisers were also back. X, she said, could turn a profit next year.