Advertisements will soon make an appearance in Threads, the X-alternative app that social media giant Meta had launched one-and-a-half years ago. The parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram revealed the development in an official blog post.
According to what we know so far, the initial rollout will involve a limited test with select brands in the US and Japan, so that Meta can assess the platform’s suitability for running ads.
This decision marks the first time that ads will appear on Threads, which means that the company now intends to monetize the app, which has so far been ad-free.
If the test is successful, then it would give Meta another avenue to further diversify its revenue streams. The concerning thing is that in order to deliver relevant ads to users, Meta will use various data points, including user activity on Threads and Instagram, interactions with posts, and even email addresses and browsing behavior outside of Meta’s platforms.
“To help people deepen connections with businesses they love, we are beginning to test ads in Threads with a small group of businesses and consumers in select regions,” the social media giant announced in the blog post. “Businesses participating in this test will be able to benefit from familiar brand safety and suitability solutions, and consumers will have access to controls to help tailor their ad experience.”
Instagram head Adam Mosseri also confirmed the news on Friday, describing the move as a “limited, early test of ads in Threads.” The advertisements, which will appear as image posts within users’ home feeds, will be restricted to a “handful of brands” for the time being.
To ensure that users do not mistake these ads for posts by other users, Meta will lable the ads labeled as “Sponsored.” If businesses are interested in signing up, then they can do so by checking a box in Ads Manager. And for users who have been shown ads they don’t like, Meta is giving them to option to skip the advertisement or tap the menu on the post to hide it.
“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. 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,” Mosseri stated.
And if this is not enough, the social media company will also be testing another new feature, called inventory filter. With this, advertisers will be able to have control over the type of organic content their ads appear next to, so there is little chance of their ads popping up beside controversial content, for example.
