Threads spotted exploring ads, but says 'no immediate timeline' toward monetization

Instagram says it’s not testing ads in Threads and has no immediate plans to monetize after multiple developers and reverse engineers uncovered references to ad products in the app’s code, including the word “ads” itself, as well as references to sponsored items and ads configuration.

A JSON file that developers used, presumably for testing purposes, was also discovered in the public-facing Threads mobile app.

One of the developers who uncovered these findings, Alessandro Paluzzi, was also able to force a post to appear as a sponsored post, which he shared on X. The post shows how a “Sponsored” label would appear next to someone’s Threads username.

Tech veteran Chris Messina also uncovered a JSON file in the Threads app titled “bcn_single_image_ad,” which referenced a sample ad unit under development.

While these findings indicate that Threads engineers appear to be exploring ad technology, that doesn’t necessarily mean Threads will debut ads anytime soon, as some suspect. Messina, for example, pointed to Threads’ recent launch of creator insights as a first step toward launching ads, while Paluzzi simply said that Threads was “getting ready to bring ads to the app.”

Meta, however, downplayed any urgency around testing ads. “We’re not testing ads in Threads at this time, and there is no immediate timeline for monetization,” Instagram spokesperson Alec Booker told TechCrunch when asked about the developers’ findings.

This mirrors other statements Meta has made, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s message to investors last quarter where he explained that “there’s a multiyear time horizon between scaling [new products] and then scaling them into not just consumer experiences but very large businesses,” hinting that ads on Threads were not on the horizon as of yet.

Earlier last year, Zuckerberg also told investors that the Threads team had to first focus on retention and improving the basics, then grow the community to the scale it believes is possible. Only after that is accomplished will it begin to work on Threads monetization. The company is still working on the scaling aspects for the time being and continues to add features like cross-posting from Instagram, adding support for multiple drafts, audience insights and more. Zuckerberg has previously said that Threads has a good chance of reaching 1 billion users in a few years — much more than the 200 million monthly active users it has now.

Still, it’s not surprising that Threads would be working on the ad tech aspects of the service. It is a Meta product, after all.

As Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in April, Meta “definitely” plans to bring ads to Threads. “I get why people have concerns, but at the end of the day we’re a business and Threads needs to make enough money to pay for the people and servers that it takes to run the service and provide it to people for free,” he noted in a Threads post.

Launched just over a year ago, Threads represents Meta’s attempt to challenge Twitter, now called X, which has been rebranded and reimagined under Elon Musk’s ownership. Potentially, Threads could offer advertisers and brands another place to market their products and services, as concerns over X’s brand safety at times have led to ad boycotts and even a lawsuit filed by X against advertising groups for distancing themselves from the platform.

Another plus for Threads is that marketers are already familiar with Meta’s ad tools and their performance, making it easier for them to embrace the new platform when Meta is ready for them.