Meta on Wednesday declare it develops ads in Utas for all global users. The expansion, which begins next week, will be phased in, with the company saying it will take several months to fully complete.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly praised the social app and rival X, which now has more than 400 million monthly active users, as the company’s next big hit. Shortly after the app’s debut, Exec told investors that Utas has a good chance reach 1 billion users in a few years time.
Although Threads hasn’t reached that milestone yet, the company has been experimenting with ads for some time. A year ago, the Thread started tested ads in the US and Japanand the end of April, the platform open to global advertisers.
The company has made it easy for existing advertisers to expand their reach to include Threads by allowing them to place ads automatically through the Meta Advantage+ program and through manual campaigns. Supported formats include images and videos, ads, including the new addition of 4:5 aspect ratio formats and carousel ads. Advertisers can manage Thread ads alongside Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in Business Settings, which simplifies cross-posting.
In addition, Meta is expanding the third-party verification already available on Facebook and Instagram (including feeds and Reels) to Thread feeds through Meta Business Partners. This gives advertisers independent brand security and compliance verification for Threads – a feature that comes in handy when Threads’ closest competitor is struggling the scourge of illegal deepfakes.
The company did not reveal how often users see ads in the feed, but noted that ad delivery will initially remain “moderate” due to the feature being added to global users.