X (formerly Twitter) has started testing a new link behavior on iOS that may artificially boost website traffic numbers.
Platforms like Substack and Bluesky recently noticed unusual spikes in their web analytics, with experts saying the increase is largely made up of “fake” views generated by X’s new system that preloads web pages before users actually click them.
According to Nick Eubanks, Vice President of Owned Media at Semrush, the issue stems from X’s experiment that preloads links in the background. “What’s happening here is a classic case of metrics distortion caused by product experimentation at the platform layer,” Eubanks told The Verge. This means X’s app now fetches a webpage in advance so users can still interact with a post — liking, reposting, or replying — while viewing the site. Previously, opening a link would hide the X post, reducing engagement.
However, this change is now creating misleading analytics. Since pages are loaded automatically, website metrics show extra visits even when users never actually open the link. Eubanks explained that this inflates click-through rates and can “trick advertisers, publishers, and creators into thinking they’re seeing more traffic” than they really are.
Substack CEO Chris Best said he initially saw a surge in visits following X’s update but later realized “most of the apparent lift is fake.” Even after filtering out those false views, Substack still recorded some genuine traffic growth. Meanwhile, Bluesky product manager Paul Frazee said the preloading behavior has “ruined” their traffic metrics for logged-out users, calling it a “mess” that makes analytics unreliable.
Traffic to Substack from links on X… @nikitabier I think it's working pic.twitter.com/24FXstmQbz
— Chris Best (@cjgbest) November 3, 2025
X product head Nikita Bier defended the update, saying it was designed to help creators. “Posts with links get lower reach because the web browser covers the post and people forget to Like or Reply,” he wrote. “So X doesn’t get a clear signal whether the content is any good.”
While preloading may improve engagement within X, experts warn that it could harm creators and publishers by distorting traffic data and making it harder to understand real audience behavior. As Eubanks put it, “We’re entering an era where metrics inflation through interface tricks, preloading, autoplay, and AI summarization will blur the line between user engagement and machine behavior.”
He added that for platforms to maintain credibility, they must be transparent about how engagement is counted, and make it clear which interactions come from people, not automated systems.
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