April 25, 2025 – Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri announced via a post on Threads yesterday that the platform is gearing up to expand its advertising services globally. The move comes as Meta’s proprietary ad-serving tool, Advantage, now includes an option to automatically route campaigns to Threads alongside Facebook and Instagram—a strategic pivot aimed at consolidating Meta’s ad ecosystem across its social media portfolio.
Since January, Threads has been quietly piloting in-feed advertisements, initially limiting the rollout to the U.S. and Japanese markets. Ads on the platform currently appear organically within users’ main feeds, blending seamlessly with user-generated content. This incremental testing phase has allowed Meta to refine ad targeting and user experience metrics before scaling the initiative.
Launched in July 2023 as a direct competitor to Elon Musk’s X platform, Threads leveraged Instagram’s existing user base to achieve remarkable growth. By 2024, the platform surpassed 320 million monthly active users, a milestone fueled by its daily addition of over 1 million new registrations. The decision to monetize via ads underscores Meta’s confidence in Threads’ ability to sustain momentum while diversifying revenue streams beyond its flagship apps.
Analysts note that the integration of Threads into Advantage’s ad-buying interface simplifies cross-platform campaigns for marketers, eliminating the need to manage separate strategies for each Meta-owned property. However, the challenge lies in balancing ad density with user retention, particularly as Threads seeks to differentiate itself from X’s cluttered feed environment. Mosseri’s announcement signals the start of a critical phase for the platform, where commercialization efforts must coexist with the user-centric ethos that defined its early success.
