Meta begins a ‘small test’ of ads on Threads

In its year-and-a-half of existence, one of the things that’s set Threads apart from Meta’s other apps is that the service has been entirely free of the advertising that fills up just about every corner of Facebook and Instagram. That’s now about to change. Meta is beginning its first “small test” of ads on Threads, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced, as the company looks to finally start making money off the service.

The ads will appear as image posts in between content in users’ feeds and will show up only for “a small percentage of people” in the US and Japan. According to Mosseri, Meta plans to begin with “a handful of brands” in the two countries. “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 ...