Meta to test ads on Threads in US and Japan

(Reuters) - Meta Platforms will begin test launching ads on its social media platform Threads with a few brands in the U.S. and Japan, it said on Friday, as the app hits over 300 million monthly active users.

During early testing starting Friday, image ads will appear in the Threads home feed, placed between content posts for a small percentage of users, Meta said in a blog.

The social media giant said it will monitor the test closely before scaling it broadly, adding that businesses will be able to extend their existing Meta ad campaigns to Threads.

Meta will also begin testing an inventory filter for ads in Threads, which enabled through AI, allows advertisers to control the sensitivity level of the organic content their ads appear next to.

"The launch of Threads ads just weeks after Meta's content moderation makeover will raise advertiser eyebrows. But the volatility at TikTok is spurring brands to seek alternatives, and Meta isn't going to pass up an opportunity to throw Threads into the mix," said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Emarketer.

Meta earlier this month scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the world's biggest social media platforms with more than 3 billion users globally.

Threads was launched in July 2023 as a challenger to X, formerly Twitter, in a bid to win users from the de facto micro-blogging site during its chaotic takeover by billionaire Elon Musk.

Meta does not expect Threads to be "a meaningful driver of 2025 revenue," CFO Susan Li had said in a post-earnings call in October.

The company plans to spend as much as $65 billion this year to expand its AI infrastructure, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier on Friday, aiming to bolster the company's position against rivals OpenAI and Google in the race to dominate the technology.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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