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Who Is Still Advertising on X (Twitter) in 2026? AdSpyder Data Reveals the Truth

Who Is Still Advertising on X (Twitter)

AdSpyder Original Data

Quick Answer

AdSpyder’s Twitter Ad Library indexes 111,383 X ads from October 2022 to December 2024 — the entire post-Elon acquisition window. Brands still advertising through that period included HBO Max, Paramount+, Apple, McDonald’s Brasil, Interactive Brokers, Bloomberg, Bybit, Bitget, HPE, and Mercado Livre. Brazil was the #1 market at 31% of all indexed X ads — not the US. Ads peaked in 2023 (68,885) and dropped 50% to 34,138 in 2024. AdSpyder’s X crawl ended after late 2024, so all numbers reflect the 2022–2024 window.

Every media buyer is asking the same question: is X still worth it? The brand safety controversies, the advertiser boycotts, the executive exits — the noise has been loud. But narratives aren’t data.

AdSpyder indexed 111,383 X ads from the day Elon Musk closed the Twitter acquisition through December 2024. This article breaks down exactly who was advertising on X, which industries showed up, which countries dominated the archive, and what the volume trend actually looked like — with one honest caveat stated clearly up front.

Data window

AdSpyder’s X crawl coverage effectively ended after late 2024. Every number in this article reflects the October 2022 – December 2024 archive. We are not claiming live 2026 advertiser counts. Source: AdSpyder platform data, June 2026.

AdSpyder’s X Archive: What 111,383 Ads Tell Us

AdSpyder’s Twitter Ad Library is part of a wider platform indexing 400+ million ads across 10 platforms. The X-specific archive contains 111,383 ads across 113 countries, covering the post-acquisition era from October 2022 through December 2024.

111,383

X ads indexed

Confirmed AdSpyder X archive count

113

Countries covered

X’s ad base is genuinely global

1,971+

Distinct advertisers

In a 10,000-ad random sample

Oct ’22

Archive start

Day of Musk acquisition close

The Volume Trend: What Happened After the Acquisition

The year-by-year breakdown from AdSpyder’s archive — ads counted by the year they were first seen — tells a clear story:

Year Ads First Seen Change Context
2022 (Oct–Dec) 8,358 Musk acquisition closes Oct 27
2023 68,885 ▲ Peak year Platform rebranded to X (Jul 2023)
2024 34,138 ▼ −50.4% Major brand safety concerns reported
2025–2026 ≈ 0 Crawl ended AdSpyder X coverage ended

Read this carefully before citing the 50% drop

This decline reflects ads added to AdSpyder’s X archive — which may track real advertiser pullback, reduced crawl coverage, or both. It should not be presented as definitive proof that X lost half its advertisers. What it does confirm: AdSpyder captured significantly fewer new X ads in 2024 than 2023, which aligns with widely-reported industry concerns about the platform during that period.

AdSpyder Twitter Ad Library

See Which Competitors Are Running X Ads

Search 111,383+ X ads by brand, keyword, or domain. 113 countries. Filter by date. See copy and creative from the full Musk-era archive.

Explore Twitter Ad Library →

Which Countries Dominated X Advertising? Brazil, Not the US.

This is the finding that surprises most media buyers. In AdSpyder’s X archive, Brazil accounts for 31.1% of all indexed ads — more than three times the US share. The US sits at #4. X advertising through the Musk era was a Latin America and emerging-markets story, not a Silicon Valley one.

Rank Country Indexed X Ads Archive Share
🥇 1 Brazil 34,616 31.1%
2 India 13,317 12.0%
3 Turkey 12,283 11.0%
4 United States 11,507 10.3%
5 Argentina 7,521 6.8%
6 Canada 7,175 6.4%
7 Nigeria 6,107 5.5%
8 Egypt 4,771 4.3%
9 Morocco 4,205 3.8%
10 Colombia 3,392 3.0%

Source: AdSpyder platform data, June 2026 (X/Twitter archive: October 2022 – December 2024). Top 10 of 113 countries.

What this means for your media planning

If your target market is Latin America, South Asia, or Africa — X had real advertiser density through 2024. If you are targeting North American or Western European audiences, the US at 10% should reset your expectations. On Google or LinkedIn, the US dominates. On X, it doesn’t.

Which Brands Were Actually Advertising on X?

From a 10,000-ad random sample of AdSpyder’s X archive, 1,971 distinct advertiser handles appeared. The most frequently seen brands by ad count in the sample:

Rank Advertiser Industry Ads in 10K Sample
1 Canles Official E-commerce (apparel) 69
2 Karma Shopping E-commerce (rewards) 61
3 HBO Max Brasil Streaming 51
4 Mercado Livre E-commerce / Marketplace 36
5 AlGhad TV Media / News (Arabic) 35
6 Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Finance / Trading 32
7 HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) B2B Tech 31
8 Hero Wars Web Gaming (mobile) 31
9 Apple Consumer Electronics 31
10 Seara Brasil Food / FMCG 31
11 HBO Max Latinoamérica Streaming 30
12 Bybit Crypto Exchange 29
13 McDonald’s Brasil QSR / Food 29
14 Bloomberg Media / Finance 25
15 Paramount+ Brasil Streaming 21

Source: AdSpyder platform data, June 2026. Counts from a 10,000-ad random sample. Additional advertisers in the full archive include Xiaomi, Samsung Brasil, Bitget, Immutable, Chainlink, Nordace, PokerStars Brasil, CAIXA, Shortwave, Motorola India, and NEOM.

Industries on X: More Diverse Than the “Crypto-Only” Narrative

The archive doesn’t include a structured industry tag, so the breakdown below is inferred from advertiser identity — treat it as directional, not a market-share report. What it does show: X’s advertiser base was far broader than the “only crypto brands advertise on X” narrative suggests.

🎬

Streaming & Entertainment

HBO Max Brasil, HBO Max Latinoamérica, Paramount+ Brasil, Prime Video Brasil, Globoplay. Latam-localised streaming was one of X’s heaviest-spending categories.

Crypto & Web3

Bybit, Bitget, Immutable, Chainlink. Crypto exchanges and Web3 projects — expected, given X’s pro-crypto positioning under Musk.

🎮

Gaming

Hero Wars, DITOGAMES, PokerStars Brasil. Mobile gaming and casino/poker brands ran consistent campaigns throughout the archive window.

🛒

E-commerce

Mercado Livre, Nordace, Karma Shopping, Canles. Latam’s largest marketplace was among the most active advertisers in the archive.

📱

Consumer Electronics

Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung Brasil, Motorola India. Global CE brands operated primarily through localised regional accounts.

💹

Finance & Trading

Interactive Brokers, Bloomberg, CAIXA (Brazilian bank), Betfair. Finance and trading brands found a natural fit with X’s news and market-conversation audience.

💼

B2B SaaS & Tech

HPE, Shortwave, Aspose, Affinidi. X was not a consumer-only platform — enterprise tech and productivity SaaS brands appeared consistently.

🍔

QSR & Food

McDonald’s Brasil, Seara Brasil. Global QSR brands targeting Brazilian audiences via localised X accounts.

The bottom line on industry mix

Crypto was real — but so were mainstream brands: Apple, McDonald’s, Bloomberg, HBO Max, and Mercado Livre. If you assumed X was abandoned by everyone except crypto exchanges, the archive says otherwise. The more accurate picture is that US mainstream brands pulled back, while Latam, finance, streaming, and gaming continued.

Ad Formats on X: What the Archive Can (and Can’t) Tell Us

Every ad in AdSpyder’s X archive is a Promoted Tweet. What a 5,000-ad sample reveals about format usage:

~50%

Embed media via t.co

Image, video, GIF, or external link

~50%

Text-only Promoted Tweets

No t.co media signal detected

What this can’t tell you

The t.co signal covers any media type — image, video, GIF, or an external link. A clean image vs video vs carousel split is not derivable from X’s archive structure. X also doesn’t expose structured CTA fields the way Meta does, so format-level performance comparisons aren’t possible from this data. For that granularity, the Meta ad library is significantly more detailed.

How to Use AdSpyder to Research X Advertisers in Your Category

The aggregate data above answers the macro question. For your specific decision — which brands in your vertical were running X ads, what copy they used, which countries they targeted — AdSpyder’s Twitter Ad Library lets you go granular.

1

Search by competitor domain or X handle

Enter a competitor’s domain (e.g. bybit.com) or their X handle directly. AdSpyder’s search-in filter lets you specify whether to match against handle, domain, or ad copy keywords.

2

Filter by country and date range

Given X’s heavy Brazil and Latam skew, country filtering is critical. Always narrow to your actual target market — global archive averages will mislead you if you sell primarily in the US or UK.

3

Review copy, creative, and last-seen date

Each result shows tweet copy, last-seen date, and image or video assets where extracted. Use this to understand messaging angles, offer types, and how long a competitor ran their X campaigns.

4

Cross-reference their full platform footprint

If a competitor ran X ads but now only appears on Google, Meta, or TikTok — that’s a platform shift signal worth tracking. Use AdSpyder’s URL & Domain Analysis to see their cross-platform ad footprint in one view.

Should You Advertise on X in 2026?

Don’t make this decision based on general platform sentiment. Make it based on your competitors’ actual behavior. Here’s what AdSpyder’s archive suggests by vertical:

Your vertical X advertiser presence Suggested action
Crypto / Web3 ✅ Very strong Research competitor X ads; platform still aligns with crypto audience
Streaming / Entertainment (Latam) ✅ Dominant category High relevance for Brazil, Argentina, Colombia targeting
Finance / Trading ✅ Strong — IBKR, Bloomberg Finance audiences engaged with X; research competitor activity first
Gaming (mobile / casino) ✅ Consistent presence Multiple gaming brands ran long-duration campaigns throughout the archive
B2B SaaS ⚠️ Moderate — HPE, Shortwave Niche but present; check whether your specific competitors are active before testing
Consumer Electronics ⚠️ Moderate — regional accounts Apple and Xiaomi active, primarily via localised Latam/India accounts, not global
US-focused brand awareness ❌ Weak — US is only 10% Check Google or Meta first; X was a secondary or test channel for most US-primary strategies

The right question isn’t “is X good?”

It’s: “are my competitors running X ads in my country, and what are they saying?” That’s the question AdSpyder’s Twitter Ad Library answers directly — without guesswork.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is still advertising on X (Twitter) in 2026?

AdSpyder’s archive confirms advertisers through December 2024 included HBO Max, Paramount+, Apple, McDonald’s Brasil, Interactive Brokers, Bloomberg, Bybit, Bitget, Mercado Livre, HPE, Shortwave, Xiaomi, Samsung Brasil, and Nordace. Brazil, India, and Turkey dominated by volume — not the US. For live 2026 counts, use AdSpyder’s Twitter Ad Library to check current competitor activity directly.

Did advertising on X drop after Elon Musk’s acquisition?

AdSpyder’s archive shows a clear decline: 68,885 ads first-seen in 2023 dropped to 34,138 in 2024 — ~50% year-over-year. This may reflect real advertiser pullback, reduced crawl coverage, or both. The decline aligns with industry reports of brand safety concerns during that period, but the two causes can’t be cleanly separated from this data alone.

Which country advertises most on X?

Brazil leads with 34,616 indexed X ads (31.1%), followed by India (12%), Turkey (11%), and the US (10.3%). The full top 10 includes Argentina, Canada, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Colombia. This is the opposite of LinkedIn, Google, or Amazon — where the US dominates by a wide margin.

What industries advertise most on X?

Streaming/entertainment, crypto/Web3, gaming, e-commerce, consumer electronics, finance/trading, B2B SaaS, QSR/food, telco, and education. The crypto-heavy narrative is real but incomplete — mainstream brands including Apple, McDonald’s Brasil, and Bloomberg were also significant X advertisers through 2024.

How can I see which brands are running ads on X right now?

AdSpyder’s Twitter Ad Library lets you search 111,383+ X ads by keyword, advertiser handle, or domain. Filter by country and date. Each result shows tweet copy, last-seen date, and creative assets where available. Note: AdSpyder’s X archive currently covers October 2022–December 2024.

Should I advertise on X in 2026?

X showed strong advertiser presence through 2024 in crypto, Latam streaming, gaming, and finance. For US-focused brand awareness strategies, the data is less compelling. The correct approach: use AdSpyder to check whether your specific competitors ran X ads before committing budget — not to rely on general narratives about the platform’s health. Compare against all 10 platforms AdSpyder covers before making a media mix decision.

Find Out What Your Competitors Ran on X

Search 111,383+ X ads from the Musk-era archive. Filter by country, date, or competitor domain. See copy and creative — then decide if X deserves a place in your 2026 media mix.

Start X Ad Research on AdSpyder →