Google Ads quietly buys ads on X

Brands avoiding X for brand safety reasons may be inadvertently purchasing advertising on the platform through Google Ads without realizing it. Jonathan D'Souza-Rauto, a martech and adtech consultant, highlighted on January 8, 2026, that X has made a substantial portion of its ad auctions available programmatically, with Google Ads serving as the primary buyer of this inventory.

"It is VERY easy to buy ads on X / Twitter without actually using their ads manager / ad platform," according to D'Souza-Rauto's LinkedIn post. The consultant explained that brands purchasing ads through Google Ads Search Partners, Video Partners extensions, Google Display Network enablement through Performance Max, Demand Gen, or Display campaigns will inherently purchase X delivery.

The issue presents particular challenges because X inventory is available at cheap CPMs, which can trick Google's optimization algorithms into defaulting to this inexpensive traffic. This creates a situation where brands maintaining official policies against advertising on X may inadvertently violate their own brand safety standards through automated campaign optimization.

D'Souza-Rauto referenced recent platform controversies, specifically mentioning Grok AI's prompt-based generation of indecent images. The Grok safety failure occurred on December 25, 2025, when users documented the system's ability to generate prohibited visual content involving minors. This incident placed xAI at the center of debates regarding automated safeguards and legal liability of AI developers.

The programmatic availability of X inventory through Google Ads creates brand safety blind spots for advertisers who lack visibility into the complete chain of where their advertisements actually appear. Many brands established policies to avoid X following platform changes and content moderation controversies but failed to implement technical controls to prevent indirect purchasing through intermediary platforms.

X platform expanded programmatic advertising access with lower CPMs in December 2024. Data shared on December 4, 2024, by a Google authorized real-time bidding partner on Reddit indicated the average CPM for X's native inventory through programmatic channels stood at $0.39. The platform's programmatic inventory generated 106 billion weekly impression opportunities, with 98% consisting of native ad formats.

For comparison, Meta's advertising costs range between $6-$8 CPM, representing a significant price differential that makes X inventory attractive to algorithmic optimization systems prioritizing cost efficiency over brand alignment. The geographical distribution of X's programmatic inventory shows Japan leading with 29% of impressions, followed by the United States at 21% and Brazil at 7%.

The consultant provided specific technical implementation steps to exclude X inventory from Google Ads campaigns. Advertisers must exclude twitter.com and x.com as website placements in Google Ads. The Android mobile app requires excluding com.twitter.android as a placement. The iOS mobile app necessitates excluding the app ID id:333903271 as a placement.

These exclusion mechanisms function within Google's placement control systems, which have evolved significantly throughout 2025. Google enabled full placement reporting for Search Partner Network in August 2025, providing site-level transparency that addresses decades of advertiser demands for placement visibility.

The placement reporting announcement accompanied several Search Partner Network enhancements implemented throughout 2025. In April 2025, Google introduced a Pre-Screen Solution providing curated exclusion lists through partnerships with DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Sciences, and Zefr. Google also implemented geographic targeting improvements and Smart Bidding system enhancements for better performance on inventory-constrained traffic.

Brand suitability concerns have intensified across the advertising industry. Research from DoubleVerify's November 2025 survey of 22,000 consumers and 1,970 marketers across 21 countries revealed that almost two-thirds of marketers advertising on social media expressed concerns about brand suitability in these placements. Brand suitability concerns reached 74 percent among companies with 5,000-9,999 employees.

The Media Rating Council issued a significant policy revision in October 2025, restricting property-level ad verification services from claiming "brand safety" capabilities unless they include content-level analysis of images, videos, and audio. That policy established a terminology distinction between brand suitability—which property-level checking can address—and brand safety, which now requires content-level examination.

Amazon DSP added content exclusion categories for brand suitability control in December 2025, enabling advertisers to block specific topics across Twitch and third-party inventory through unified controls. The unified approach addressed fragmentation challenges that previously required advertisers to configure separate controls for different inventory sources.

Google's brand safety systems use 12 bots crawling the web and apps to label each URL with digital content labels and sensitive topic classifiers. These technologies are available in Campaign Manager, Display & Video 360, and Google Ads. However, the automated classification systems cannot fully account for platform-level controversies or specific brand policies regarding X.

The issue extends beyond Display campaigns. Performance Max campaigns, which serve advertisements across Google Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discover properties, have faced criticism for limited brand control since their widespread adoption. Google introduced text guidelines for Performance Max and AI Max for Search campaigns in September 2025, but these controls focus on messaging content rather than placement exclusions.

The programmatic ecosystem's complexity creates situations where brands cannot rely solely on avoiding direct platform relationships. Advertising executive Paul Armstrong described programmatic buying as "very broken" in September 2025, pointing to what he characterized as a collapsed value exchange between advertisers, publishers, and consumers.

Digital spending now accounts for approximately 65% of total advertising budgets. Of that digital spend, roughly 70% flows to Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Meta, according to Armstrong's assessment. This concentration has created what Armstrong called a "race to the bottom" where publishers struggle financially, consumers face an onslaught of ads, and advertisers question whether their spending generates meaningful results.

Microsoft Advertising launched enhanced website exclusion tools in August 2025, addressing advertiser demands for enhanced brand safety and greater control over automated advertising placements. The system ensures ads appear only in environments aligning with brand values while improving performance through focused high-performing website targeting.

The discovery that Google Ads serves as the primary programmatic buyer of X inventory creates operational challenges for marketing teams. Advertisers must audit existing campaigns across Search Partners, Video Partners, Google Display Network, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Display campaign types to identify potential X exposure. Implementation of exclusions requires coordination across account structures, particularly for agencies managing multiple client accounts with varying brand safety policies.

Some advertisers may unknowingly violate contractual obligations or internal policies by purchasing X inventory through Google Ads. Companies that publicly announced departures from X or established formal policies against platform advertising face reputational risks if their ads appear on the platform through programmatic channels.

The technical implementation of exclusions presents additional complexity. Google's placement exclusion systems operate at multiple levels—account, campaign, and ad group—requiring advertisers to determine the appropriate implementation strategy for their organizational structure. Account-level exclusions provide broad protection but may be inappropriate for organizations where different divisions maintain distinct brand safety standards.

Campaign-level exclusions offer more granular control but require vigilant maintenance as new campaigns launch. Ad group-level exclusions provide maximum specificity but create administrative burden for large-scale operations. The choice depends on organizational complexity, technical capabilities, and risk tolerance.

The situation highlights broader challenges in programmatic advertising transparency. Advertisers purchasing inventory through demand-side platforms or intermediary channels often lack complete visibility into the full supply chain. While Google provides placement reporting and exclusion mechanisms, the onus falls on advertisers to proactively identify and block unwanted inventory sources.

Third-party verification partners offer additional oversight layers. Advertisers concerned about brand safety violations should consider implementing independent measurement alongside platform-internal brand suitability reporting to identify classification errors that result in placements within excluded content categories. However, verification services add costs and may not catch all violations in real-time.

The programmatic availability of X inventory through Google Ads represents a case study in the gap between advertiser intent and execution. Brands make strategic decisions about platform relationships based on values alignment, audience quality, and content moderation standards. These decisions become meaningless when inventory flows through indirect channels without advertiser awareness or consent.

Industry observers note that platform consolidation and programmatic complexity will likely increase rather than decrease. As advertising technology continues automating buying decisions, maintaining brand safety requires constant vigilance and technical sophistication. Marketing teams must develop processes for regularly auditing placement reports, updating exclusion lists, and verifying that campaign optimizations align with brand standards.

The situation also raises questions about platform transparency obligations. Should intermediary platforms like Google Ads proactively disclose all inventory sources to advertisers, or does the responsibility fall entirely on buyers to investigate supply chains? The answer likely varies by jurisdiction, with European regulators generally taking stronger stances on transparency requirements than their American counterparts.

For now, the practical reality remains: brands avoiding X must implement technical exclusions across Google Ads campaigns to prevent inadvertent inventory purchases. D'Souza-Rauto's LinkedIn post serves as a reminder that brand safety requires active management rather than passive assumptions. The exclusion of twitter.com, x.com, com.twitter.android, and iOS app ID 333903271 represents a minimum baseline for advertisers maintaining X avoidance policies.

The broader lesson extends beyond X specifically. Any platform making inventory available programmatically through major demand sources creates similar blind spots. Advertisers should systematically review placement reports across all campaigns, identify unexpected inventory sources, and implement appropriate exclusions. Brand safety in programmatic advertising is not a one-time configuration but an ongoing operational requirement.

Timeline

• April 2025: Google introduces Search Partner Network Pre-Screen Solution with third-party brand safety exclusion lists
• August 2025: Google enables full placement reporting for Search Partner Network, providing site-level transparency
• August 2025: Microsoft Advertising launches enhanced website exclusion tools addressing brand safety demands
• September 2025: Google introduces text guidelines for Performance Max and AI Max campaigns with term exclusions
• September 2025: Advertising executive describes programmatic buying as "very broken"
• October 2025: Media Rating Council restricts "brand safety" claims to content-level analysis requirements
• November 2025: DoubleVerify survey reveals two-thirds of social media advertisers express brand suitability concerns
• November 2025: Google launches brand suitability controls for Demand Gen campaigns
• December 2024: X platform expands programmatic advertising access with $0.39 CPMs
• December 2025: Grok AI generates prohibited images of minors, sparking brand safety concerns
• December 2025: Amazon DSP adds content exclusion categories for brand suitability control
• January 8, 2026: Martech consultant Jonathan D'Souza-Rauto reveals Google Ads as primary programmatic buyer of X inventory

Summary

Who: Jonathan D'Souza-Rauto, martech and adtech consultant, alerting advertisers and agencies about inadvertent X inventory purchases through Google Ads campaigns.

What: X has made a substantial portion of its ad auctions available programmatically, with Google Ads serving as the primary buyer. Brands purchasing ads through Search Partners, Video Partners extensions, Google Display Network, Performance Max, Demand Gen, or Display campaigns inherently buy X delivery at cheap CPMs ($0.39 average) that trick Google's optimization algorithms.

When: The LinkedIn post was published on January 8, 2026, following X's programmatic expansion in December 2024 and the December 25, 2025 Grok AI controversy involving prohibited content generation.

Where: The issue affects Google Ads campaigns globally, with X's programmatic inventory generating 106 billion weekly impression opportunities across markets including Japan (29%), United States (21%), and Brazil (7%).

Why: Many brands established policies to avoid X following platform controversies but lack technical controls to prevent indirect purchasing through intermediary platforms. The combination of low CPMs, algorithmic optimization toward cost efficiency, and limited supply chain transparency creates brand safety blind spots requiring manual placement exclusions (twitter.com, x.com, com.twitter.android, iOS app ID 333903271).