Meta has announced its ad advancement, launching video ads on Threads and a new trending placement option for reels, giving advertisers fresh ways to engage audiences.

This announcement was made during the company’s NewFronts presentation in New York on 8 May 2025. In addition to the updates for Threads and reels, Meta is rolling out new ad formats on Facebook and Instagram.

The new video ad format is now available globally, with a limited group of advertisers currently testing creative assets in 16:9 and 1:1 aspect ratios. These ads appear seamlessly between organic posts in the Threads feed, marking a significant step in Meta’s effort to monetise the growing platform.

Read also: Meta releases Meta AI as an independent app featuring a social discovery feed

Threads, which was launched by Instagram’s team in response to changes on Twitter, has grown significantly, recently surpassing 350 million monthly active users. Engagement has also increased, with a 35% rise in time spent on the app, partly attributed to improved recommendation systems. 

Despite some user frustration when image ads were first introduced earlier this year, Meta states it is closely monitoring these tests and aiming for ads to be relevant and interesting. Users retain the ability to skip, hide, or report specific adverts. 

Although video ads are launching, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stated during a recent earnings call that he does not expect ads on Threads to drive meaningful revenue growth in 2025.

For reels, Meta is launching trending reels ads, a placement that puts advertisements into some of the most popular creator reels on both Facebook and Instagram. This new option allows ads to be attached to popular short videos, targeting either individual reels or topical trending content. 

Undoubtedly, this move mirrors TikTok’s pulse core products and is seen as Meta’s latest effort to monetise its short-form feed. Reels’ contents are reshared frequently across Meta’s platforms, with nearly 4.5 billion reshares daily, an increase from 3.5 billion last year.

Additional ad innovations include new formats on Facebook and Instagram, such as brands being able to secure real estate in the ad’s header and sponsor Facebook Live content. Facebook Live partnership ads, which enable brands to pay to boost live creator content and turn streams into sales channels, represent the resurrection of Facebook Live advertising, which Meta had previously discontinued in 2022.

Watch: We’ve used The Future Awards to project the incredible work of about 4,000 Africans – CEO Red Media

In addition, Meta is leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for features like video expansion on Facebook reels. This AI-powered tool adjusts video creative assets by generating unseen pixels in each frame to expand the aspect ratio. Meta refers to this as creating a more immersive and native experience and cites it as an example of how AI can enhance creativity.

Beyond these key advertising placements, Meta is bringing Instagram’s creator tools to Facebook, enabling brands to boost user-generated content and run partnership ads, a feature already available on Instagram. Furthermore, Meta is opening up Trends in Instagram’s Creator Marketplace to advertisers, providing access to real-time data on user discussions for relevant campaign creation.