Your Threads Feed Will Show Ads Soon, May Start Next Week

Ads are coming to Meta’s latest social media craze. Threads announced it will expand its ad tech to all users globally, giving the brand a new revenue stream after a trial that ran since May last year.

Meta says ads for Threads will begin appearing to all users the week starting Jan. 26, but it may take the next few months for them to reach everyone. It says its ad delivery will be gradual, suggesting it’ll focus on markets with more ad inventory for the start of the rollout.

Expect to see similar ads on Threads to what you see on Facebook or your Instagram feed, with Meta bringing the same tools to its newest platform.

It shows five types of ads, including carousels, images, and videos, alongside app ads and Advantage+ catalog ads that feature products with easy-buy links. Meta even encourages advertisers to use similar, if not the same, ad campaigns on Threads.

Meta's ad expansion comes after a recent report said Threads has hit over 400 million monthly active users. A report from Similarweb earlier this week showed that Threads had grown to 141.5 million daily active users on mobile, while its biggest rival, X, had 125 million.

However, X remains the larger of the two sites, with a web audience of 150 million daily visits. Threads is much smaller on the web, with only 8.5 million daily visitors, as its tools are better designed for mobile platforms.

Could ads put some Threads users off using the social media network? It's possible, but it hasn't happened with Meta's other ad expansions. It will likely come down to the frequency of ads seen within the app experience and the quality of the ads served.

Meta's history of serving ads on other platforms will help inform that experience, meaning it should be able to strike the right balance to keep user interest high.