Threads ads: placement, formats and specs

This guide is built from Meta's pages: Introducing Ads in Threads and Ads on Threads: One Year In (Meta for Business), and the Marketing API documentation for Threads Ads, Threads Ads Creation, Threads Carousel Ads and Threads Ads Insights. For every Meta placement see our Meta ads placements guide, and for Facebook and Instagram sizes our Meta ads specs guide; this page does not repeat them.

What Threads ads are

Meta's launch post describes them as image ads that "appear between pieces of content in the Threads home feed". Since then Meta has added video, carousel, Advantage+ catalog and app ads. In Meta's words from its one-year update, ads on Threads are "an easy way to extend the reach of their existing Meta campaigns, automatically adding Threads placements to Advantage+ and manual campaigns."

Three things follow from that:

• There is one placement, Threads feed. Meta's insights documentation says that in a placement breakdown "the only option for the Threads platform is threads_feed."
• You cannot run a Threads-only campaign. The creation guide says "Adding Instagram stream is a prerequisite if you want to select Threads threads_stream as a placement." Meta's May 2025 developer post puts it in Ads Manager terms: Threads feed sits in the Feeds group, and "At minimum, Instagram feed must also be selected when selecting Threads feed."
• You cannot boost an existing post: "Ads cannot be created from an existing Threads post."

Turning the Threads placement on or off

When Meta opened Threads ads to all eligible advertisers in April 2025, it said Threads feed "will be on by default for new campaigns using either Advantage+ or Manual Placements." It adds: "Advertisers have the option to opt out of Threads feed via Manual Placements."

• To keep Threads: leave Advantage+ placements on, or tick Threads feed under Feeds in manual placements (with Instagram feed).
• To leave Threads out: choose manual placements and untick Threads feed.
• Watch new formats: Meta says that when new formats become compatible with Threads, "both existing and newly created campaigns using them will automatically use your Threads profile or Instagram account to deliver to threads_stream if that placement is included." Check placements on running campaigns from time to time.

How Advantage+ and manual placements work in general is covered in our placements guide.

Which account runs the ad

Every Threads ad needs a Threads identity. Meta's Threads Ads documentation lists three options:

• Instagram-associated Threads account: your real Threads profile, linked to the Instagram account with the matching username in the same business portfolio.
• Instagram-backed Threads account: for advertisers without a Threads profile; "a mock Threads account is created specifically to run those ads."
• Page-backed Threads account: run from a Facebook Page, for advertisers using a Page-backed Instagram account. It takes the Page's name and profile picture.

Meta warns that "You cannot log into Threads accounts created this way to manage posts." The Instagram side matters too: you cannot run ads on Threads "if the associated Instagram account cannot run ads on Instagram." Meta's one-year update says Threads accounts can now be managed in Business Settings with your other accounts; see our business portfolio guide.

Objectives and formats

The creation guide lists these objectives for Threads feed: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement and Sales. Meta's March 2026 developer update adds app ads, saying "You can now buy App ads on Threads through the Marketing API globally."

Formats Meta supports on Threads:

• Single image and single video ads.
• Image carousels, shown as square cards.
• Advantage+ catalog and app ads, per Meta's one-year update.

The documentation puts it plainly: "Threads ads creation only supports images, videos, and carousel as the media format." Placement asset customization lets you give Threads its own image or video, but Meta's October 2025 update says "Carousel ad format is not yet supported" for it.

Threads image, video and carousel requirements

Threads crops differently from Instagram, which is the main reason to check creative before you leave the placement on. From Meta's creation guide:

• Images: 1.91:1 to 9:16 accepted. "Images with a taller ratio than 4:5 will be cropped and vertically centered to 4:5." Images between 1.91:1 and 4:5 are not altered.
• Minimum width: "Threads images must be at least 500px in width."
• Videos: 1.91:1 to 9:16 accepted; taller than 4:5 is cropped and centered to 4:5.
• Carousel images: "Images with a ratio outside of 1:1 will be center cropped to 1:1."

So a 9:16 Stories image will show as a 4:5 crop in Threads feed, and a 4:5 carousel card as a square crop. Keep text and products in the centre.

Carousels on Threads also differ from Instagram. The carousel documentation says "There is no call to action button on the ad", each card needs its own link, and a card headline replaces the call-to-action text.

Captions, hashtags and links

• Caption length: "There is a 1000 character limit on captions for ads targeting Threads." A longer caption still runs on Instagram but "will not be delivered on Threads."
• Recommended: Meta suggests 80 to 160 characters.
• Hashtags and URLs: "Hashtags and URLs are not supported in the caption." Meta also states a limit of 30 hashtags per ad.

Your Facebook Page is still needed to create the ad, but Meta notes: "Your Page information does not appear anywhere on your Threads ad."

Brand safety on Threads

Meta applies the same brand safety tools to Threads feed as to Facebook and Instagram feeds:

• Inventory filter: controls how sensitive the organic content next to your ad may be; Meta made it available to Threads advertisers in April 2025.
• Third-party verification: Meta's October 2025 update names Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify, Scope3 and Zefr as Meta Business Partners verifying Threads feed.
• Monetization Policies: content that breaks Meta's Community Standards "isn't eligible for ad adjacency."

How the inventory filter levels and block lists work is in our Meta block lists guide.

Replies on Threads ads

People can reply to a Threads ad, and the replies sit under your Threads identity. Meta's March 2026 update says you can "View, hide, and reply to top-level replies on your Threads ads." How ad comments and replies work across Facebook, Instagram and Threads is in our ad comment moderation guide.

Reporting by placement

Threads results sit inside the campaign. To see them on their own, use the placement breakdown; in the API that is the publisher_platform and platform_position breakdown, where Threads shows as Threads feed. For your own analytics, Meta suggests the ad's URL tags with utm_source=threads.

Expect small numbers at first. Meta's documentation says it keeps the volume of Threads ads "intentionally low" and "expect that delivery to Threads will be low." Its one-year update says the expansion to all users "will be gradual, with ad delivery initially remaining low". Our Meta ads reporting guide covers breakdowns in general.

How we use the Threads placement

This is our own practice, not Meta's guidance:

• We leave Threads feed on when the creative works at 4:5 and square, since Meta adds it to Advantage+ and manual campaigns anyway.
• We check captions: under 1,000 characters, no hashtags or links in the text, so the ad is not silently dropped from Threads.
• We look at the placement breakdown after a few weeks and switch to manual placements without Threads only if its cost per result is clearly worse.
• We connect the real Threads profile where the business has one, so replies can be answered from the account people see.

If you want help with Meta campaigns, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

How do I run ads on Threads?

Create a normal Meta campaign in Ads Manager and keep the Threads feed placement on, with Instagram feed also selected. There is no separate Threads ads tool.

Can I run ads only on Threads?

No. Meta requires the Instagram feed placement whenever Threads feed is selected.

How do I turn off Threads ads?

Switch the ad set to manual placements and untick Threads feed. Meta turns Threads feed on by default for new campaigns.

What image size works for Threads ads?

Meta accepts 1.91:1 to 9:16 and at least 500px wide, but crops anything taller than 4:5 to 4:5, and carousel images to 1:1.

Do I need a Threads account to advertise on Threads?

No. Without a Threads profile, Meta can create an Instagram-backed or Page-backed Threads account just to run the ads; you cannot log into it to post.

Related Meta guides: placements, ad specs, block lists and Instagram partnership ads. To plan a campaign with us, see our services.