Meta to Begin Testing Ads on Threads in the US and Japan

Meta Platforms announced on Friday that it will start testing advertisements on its social media platform Threads with several brands in the U.S. and Japan as the app surpasses 300 million monthly active users. As part of the initial testing beginning Friday, image ads will show up in the Threads home feed, positioned between content posts for a limited percentage of users, according to a blog post by Meta.

The social media behemoth announced it will keep a close watch on the test prior to widespread implementation, noting that companies can expand their current Meta ad campaigns onto Threads. Additionally, Meta will initiate testing an inventory filter for ads in Threads, which leverages AI to let advertisers manage the sensitivity level of the organic content alongside which their ads are displayed.

“The introduction of Threads ads shortly after Meta’s revision of content moderation will catch the attention of advertisers.” “However, the instability at TikTok is prompting brands to look for other options, and Meta will not miss the chance to introduce Threads into the equation,” stated Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Emarketer.

Earlier this month, Meta discontinued its U.S. fact-checking initiative on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, which are three of the largest social media platforms globally with over 3 billion users combined. Threads debuted in July 2023 as a competitor to X, previously known as Twitter, aiming to attract users away from the leading micro-blogging service amidst its tumultuous acquisition by billionaire Elon Musk. CFO Susan Li mentioned in an October post-earnings call that Meta does not anticipate Threads being “a significant contributor to 2025 revenue.”

The firm intends to invest up to $65 billion this year to enhance its AI infrastructure, stated CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier on Friday, with the goal of strengthening the company’s competitive stance against rivals OpenAI and Google in the quest to lead the technology sector.