Meta’s Threads, a direct rival to X, announced on Friday that it is now testing ads with select brands in the U.S. and Japan. Instagram head Adam Mosseri emphasized that the company would be gathering feedback before deciding to expand this experiment to other markets.
“We know there will be plenty of feedback about how we should approach ads, and we are making sure they feel like Threads posts you’d find relevant and interesting,” Mosseri said. “We’ll closely monitor this test before scaling it more broadly, with the goal of getting ads on Threads to a place where they are as interesting as organic content,” he added.
Early Ad Format and Controls
According to Meta, the ads will carry a “Sponsored” label when appearing in users’ feeds, and the early tests will focus on image ads. The company also mentioned that users will have control over the ad topics they see and will have the option to report ads.
“People come to Meta for a personalized experience that helps them discover businesses and content they love — ads are an essential part of enabling this. It can be as simple as finding a brand you didn’t know you loved but now follow through ads,” Meta stated in a blog post.
Meta launched Threads in 2023 with an emphasis on user growth, initially surpassing 275 million monthly active users. By December, the platform had reached 100 million active users. After launching, Mark Zuckerberg told investors that Threads’ focus would be on user retention. Given the positive user engagement signs, Meta now seems poised to leverage the growing scale of Threads with this new ads experiment.
In April, Mosseri confirmed in a Threads post that the company planned to eventually introduce ads to the platform. In August, app sleuth Alessandro Paluzzi discovered code related to ad development for Threads, though Meta initially said there were no immediate plans to roll out ads.
What The Author Thinks
Meta’s cautious approach to ads on Threads is a smart move. Testing the waters in select markets with clear controls for users is a way to ensure the ads don’t feel intrusive. However, as they scale this experiment, they’ll need to strike a delicate balance. If ads can seamlessly blend into the user experience, they could actually enhance user engagement. But if they feel forced or irrelevant, it could backfire. Threads has built a strong user base, but its challenge will be maintaining that engagement while integrating ads in a way that feels natural, not disruptive.
Featured image credit: FMT
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