Meta to begin testing ads on Threads, its micro-blogging app

Thilina Kaluthotage | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Meta will begin testing ads on its Threads microblogging service with a few companies in the U.S. and Japan, the company said in a blog post Friday.

The experiment marks Meta’s first run at generating revenue from Threads. Meta launched the app in July 2023 to rival X, formerly known as Twitter, which Elon Musk purchased for $44 billion in late 2022.

“We’ll closely monitoring 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,” Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram and the Meta executive who oversees Threads, said in a post on the service.

During the test, a small number of Threads users will see ads with large images within their feeds. The test ads will resemble sponsored content that users of Facebook and Instagram typically see on those services, the blog post said.

Businesses participating in the test will also be able to access a brand-safety tool used in Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and Reels products that is designed so that brands’ sponsored content does not run alongside offensive content.

Meta’s existing “monetization policies” will apply to Threads, ensuring “content that violates our Community Standards isn’t eligible for ad adjacency,” the company said.

Threads has over 300 million monthly users and three out of four people on Threads follow at least one business on their personal feeds, the company said in the blog post.

A $5 billion market

Since Threads’ launch in 2023, some investors have said they believe the platform could eventually become a revenue source for Meta comparable to Twitter prior to Musk’s acquisition. In 2021, Twitter’s annual revenue hit $5 billion.

Meta chief financial officer Susan Li told analysts in October that the company has been “pleased” with Threads’ “growth trajectory” but is not expecting the product to quickly become a major business.

“Specifically, as it pertains to monetization, we don’t expect Threads to be a meaningful driver of 2025 revenue at this time,” Li said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

Meta will reveal more information about third-party advertising verification tools and support for more languages “in the coming months,” the company said.

The Threads ads announcement comes after Meta earlier this month announced that it would relax its content-moderation guidelines and shuttered its third-party fact-checking program as part of an effort to allow more “free expression” on its platform.

The announcement also follows a shake up in the social media landscape after Apple and Google stopped distributing TikTok through its app stores in compliance with a law signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2024 requiring parent company ByteDance to divest the social app or see it face an effective ban in the U.S.

“The launch of Threads ads just weeks after Meta’s content moderation makeover will raise advertiser eyebrows,” said Jasmine Enberg, eMarketer principal analyst. “But the volatility at TikTok is spurring brands to seek alternatives, and Meta isn’t going to pass up an opportunity to throw Threads into the mix.”

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