Elon Musk has announced a sweeping change on X (formerly Twitter), declaring that hashtags will no longer be allowed in paid advertisements on the platform starting Friday, June 27, 2025.
Making the announcement via his personal X account on Thursday morning, Musk described hashtags as an “aesthetic nightmare” that disrupt the visual flow of ads and diminish user experience.
“Starting tomorrow, the esthetic nightmare that is hashtags will be banned from ads on X,” Musk posted, sparking a fresh wave of debate among digital marketers and advertisers worldwide.
This decision follows Musk’s earlier comments in December 2024, when he encouraged users and brands to move away from overusing hashtags, noting that many posts without them were performing better in terms of engagement and reach.
Reactions from users and advertisers have been mixed. While some social media strategists expressed concern over losing a key audience targeting tool, others praised the move as a bold step towards creating a cleaner, more premium-looking ad feed. Several prominent X users referred to the change as a “game-changer for brand aesthetics.”
Digital advertising agencies are already scrambling to adjust their current and future campaigns to comply with the new rule, which will be enforced globally across all ad formats on X.
Industry analysts believe this is another sign of Musk’s continued push to reshape X’s brand identity and move away from traditional social media norms in favor of a more minimalist and controlled content environment.
