When Threads might get ads as user base booms

Meta's new Twitter competitor, Threads, has really taken off. And while there's still a slew of features it needs before it can truly provide a full alternative option to Twitter, one thing that Meta isn't planning to roll out any time soon is a traditional online advertising program for the platform. 

In response to one Threads user posting about ads coming to the service, the company's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg chimed in to make Meta's plans clear.

"Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to 1 billion people, and only then think about monetization at that point," Zuckerberg said.

While Meta is clearly saying traditional online advertising isn't coming to Threads quite yet, that's hardly the only way that social media content is monetized. Marketers don't need to wait for Threads to run an advertising program in order to use the platform for sponsored content and influencer marketing. 

Although Meta has yet to comment on its plans to support brand-led sponsored content on Threads, a new report from Axios indicates that Threads will soon introduce a suite of features aimed at helping brands run their own advertising campaigns. And those tools and the policies surrounding them will come straight from Threads' connected-platform, Instagram.

"Instagram is working to quickly make [branded content tools] available, which would give marketers an opportunity to begin experimenting with paid promotion, while advertising is still unavailable," Axios reported regarding these Instagram sponsored content features coming to Threads.

Being that Instagram's branded content tools are already publicly available, it's easy to see now what's coming to Threads. Instagram requires sponsored posts to be clearly labeled on the platform so that users know they are viewing paid content. This means that if an influencer is paid to post about a brand, they need to let users know. This could also include posts where a product or service was provided to the influencer for free. With this tool, Instagram posts a "Paid partnership with…" tag on the appropriate content. Threads' branded content will work much the same way.

Currently, on Instagram, brand accounts must apply for eligibility to use these branded content tools. It appears Threads may also require this, but that could change.

It seems Meta is trying to walk a fine line between allowing sponsored content in order to satiate brands and avoiding traditional advertisements for the time being so that users aren't driven away by being inundated with ads before Threads becomes an integral part of their every online experience.

In addition, there could be an added bonus to this for Threads users. Many have critiqued how brand accounts and influencers currently get promoted by Threads' recommendation algorithms and permeate throughout their feed. One byproduct of a sponsored label could be helping users avoid these type of posts as they'll be much more obvious.

Either way, this middle ground is a smart move from Meta and could very well help Threads avoid losing users' interest once it's no longer the latest shiny new online toy.