Meta has begun testing ads on Threads in the U.S. and Japan with a select group of invited brands. The initial image ads will be slotted between pieces of content in the Threads home feed and will be visible to only a small percentage of users. Drawing from Meta’s existing ads systems framework, “the familiar visual feed format will enable advertisers to easily extend existing image ads to Threads with the check of a box,” according to Meta. Emulating Google, the company will provide users with controls to skip or hide ads. Threads advertisers will be afforded control using the Inventory Filter tool Meta has implemented for Facebook and Instagram Feed and Reels.

Enabled through AI, Inventory Filter “allows advertisers to control the sensitivity level of the organic content their ads appear next to,” working in over 30 languages, the company explains in a blog post. Meta promises “more to share about third-party verification solutions, along with support for more languages, in the coming months.”

Meta hopes feedback from users and advertisers will inform its efforts to improve Threads advertising before launching more broadly. At this early stage, the image ads “will show a ‘Sponsored’ label when they appear in a feed,” writes TechCrunch.

Meta’s existing creator monetization policies will impact the placement of ads. For instance, content that violates community standards will not be eligible for ad adjacency on Threads.

“The experiment marks Meta’s first run at generating revenue from Threads, which launched in 2023 to rival X, the company formerly known as Twitter that Elon Musk purchased in 2022,” reports CNBC, observing that “some investors have said they believe Threads could generate as much revenue as Twitter did prior to Musk’s acquisition,” which was $5 billion for the 2021 calendar year.

“It may not have reached a billion users just yet, but Meta has decided to launch ads on Threads anyway,” Social Media Today writes, alluding to the fact that upon its launch in July 2023, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested a benchmark of 1 billion users before starting monetization efforts.

Meta spent that first year focused on audience growth, topping 275 million monthly Threads active users, notes TechCrunch, adding that as of December the company said it had 100 million active users.