Meta begins testing ads on Threads in the US and Japan; aims for personalised ad experience

Meta announced on Friday that it is testing ads on its social media platform Threads, a rival to Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter), with select brands in the US and Japan. Instagram head Adam Mosseri stated that the company will gather feedback before extending the 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 said.

Meta announced in a blog that image ads will begin appearing in the Threads home feed starting Friday, positioned between content posts for a small group of users. The company stated that businesses will be able to extend their existing Meta ad campaigns to Threads.


The company also mentioned that users will have control over ad topics and will be able to report ads.

“People come to Meta for a personalised 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,” the company said.

Earlier this month, Meta discontinued its fact-checking programme in the US on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Meta launched Threads in 2023, initially prioritising user growth, reaching over 275 million monthly active users. In December, the company reported having 100 million active users.

In April 2024, Mosseri confirmed in a Threads post that the company planned to introduce ads to the platform.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday that Meta Platforms plans to invest $60-$65 billion this year to enhance its AI infrastructure. The move is part of the company’s strategy to strengthen its competitive edge against rivals OpenAI and Google in the race for AI dominance.