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Instagram Threads is expanding its advertising program globally, months after initial testing in markets like the U.S. According to an announcement on Wednesday, Meta will now permit all eligible advertisers to connect with Threads’ sizable user base—over 320 million monthly active users. This expansion offers advertisers access to inventory filters for managing content sensitivity alongside their Threads ads.
Global Rollout of Ads on Instagram Threads
Meta stated that the placement of these new advertisements within the Threads feed will be automatically activated for any new ad campaigns utilizing Meta’s Advantage+ or Manual Placements features. Advertisers using Manual Placements retain the choice to exclude the Threads feed from their campaigns.
Initially, the availability of these ads will be confined to specific regions, progressively extending to additional markets over time.
Previously, Threads has been experimenting with advertising within the U.S. and Japan.
Threads’ Monetization Strategy
This expansion suggests that Meta believes the Threads community is sufficiently established to be monetized and to compete for ad revenues against rivals such as Elon Musk’s X. Furthermore, Meta posits that its platform presents a more favorable environment for advertisers, evidenced by the fact that three out of every four Threads users already follow at least one business on the application.
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Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, informed investors on the January earnings call that he anticipates Threads reaching over 1 billion users within the ensuing “several years,” and noted the registration of “more than 1 million signups per day.”
Leveraging Instagram’s Network Effects
Threads’ growth was not solely organic; it capitalized on the network dynamics of its connection to Instagram. The app leveraged Instagram’s pre-existing social graph to facilitate the onboarding of new users. This instantaneous mirroring of users’ Instagram networks allowed them to connect with similar friends, creators, and brands within Threads.
This advantage, stemming from Meta’s ownership of several major social networks, is now a point of contention in its antitrust legal proceedings with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. A potential outcome of the trial could see Meta being compelled to divest from Instagram and WhatsApp should the government prevail.
Drawing Inspiration from Emerging Social Networks
To foster growth, Meta has adopted strategies from nascent social platforms, including Mastodon and Bluesky.
Integration with ActivityPub
Similar to Mastodon, Meta is working to integrate Threads with the ActivityPub protocol, connecting the platform to the more extensive, decentralized web known as the fediverse. Although the integration is still in progress, Threads has the potential to become one of the foremost services within the fediverse, greatly outpacing Mastodon’s 8+ million registered users and just under 1 million monthly active users.
Currently, the fediverse (excluding Threads) hosts over 16 million users.
Feature Parity with Bluesky
Threads has also replicated popular functionalities from Bluesky, such as the capability to craft custom feeds—separate from the standard algorithmic feed— and has introduced its adaptation of Bluesky’s Starter Packs, offering curated lists of suggested users for newcomers to follow.
Unlike Bluesky, which boasts over 35 million users, Threads users are initially directed to the “For You” feed upon launching the application. Additionally, Threads users do not have the same level of control over moderation preferences that Bluesky users enjoy.