Threads Ads UK: Should Your Business Advertise on Threads Now It Has Overtaken X?

On 21 October 2026, Mark Zuckerberg told investors on Meta's third-quarter earnings call that "Threads has now overtaken X in monthly actives and continues to grow quickly." Three years after launch, Meta's text-first app is now, by its own count, bigger than the platform it was built to compete with.

For UK businesses, the more useful news is quieter. If you run Meta ads, there is a good chance some of your budget is already being spent on Threads, because Meta adds the Threads feed to campaigns by default. And since September 2026, you no longer need an Instagram account to advertise there at all.

This guide covers what Threads ads are, what changed this autumn, what the ads cannot do yet, and how to decide whether Threads deserves a test. As always at BlackFire Marketing, the test is sales and qualified leads, not impressions.

What Meta announced about Threads in October 2026

The headline came from Meta's Q3 2026 results on 21 October. Alongside Zuckerberg's comment on X, chief financial officer Susan Li said Threads "continued to scale, with time spent per user growing over 20% year-over-year".

Two caveats before anyone rebuilds a media plan:

• Meta did not publish a new user number. The last official figure is 500 million monthly active users, announced on 16 June 2026. As 24/7 Wall St pointed out the day after the call, the claim about X rests on numbers Meta has not released.
• "Monthly active users" is not a common standard. X is now part of SpaceX, whose IPO filing put X at about 550 million users as of March 2026 without defining what a user is. Third-party estimates cited in the same 24/7 Wall St analysis still show X ahead among US mobile users and far ahead on the web.

So Threads is very large, still growing and more engaging. Whether it is "bigger than X" depends on who is counting.

How Threads ads work

Threads ads are bought through Meta Ads Manager. There is no separate Threads ads platform.

Threads is switched on by default

Meta's own help pages say the Threads feed placement "will be automatically selected by default" when you use Advantage+ placements, and is also selected by default if you choose manual placements. When Meta expanded Threads ads to all users globally in January 2026, it described them as "an easy way to extend the reach of their existing Meta campaigns, automatically adding Threads placements to Advantage+ and manual campaigns". Meta said in its Q2 2026 results that the global expansion was complete.

If you have not checked your placement breakdown this year, Threads may already be in your results.

You cannot run Threads on its own

Meta does not support Threads as a standalone placement. With manual placements, you must select both Threads feed and Instagram feed, so you cannot ring-fence a pure Threads test inside one ad set.

You no longer need Instagram

Meta's business help centre now says: "Starting in September 2026, matching usernames between Threads and Instagram profiles will no longer be required to run Threads ads. Businesses operating without an Instagram profile will also be able to launch ads on Threads directly using their native Threads profile." Meta adds that the changes are "rolling out gradually and may not be available to you yet", and some of its older help text still mentions the matching username rule, so check what your own account shows.

If you do not have a Threads profile at all, Meta will run your Threads ads using your Instagram profile or Facebook Page. The catch, according to Meta, is that you then cannot reply to, remove or hide comments on those ads. For any business that cares about what is said under its adverts, that alone is a reason to set up a proper Threads profile.

Meta has also changed the label on Threads ads from "Sponsored" to "Ad".

Threads ad formats and specs

Threads ads appear between posts in the Threads feed. According to Meta's specifications, you can run:

• Single image ads. JPG or PNG, aspect ratios from 1.91:1 to 9:16, with anything taller than 4:5 cropped to 4:5. Meta recommends 1440 x 1440 pixels.
• Single video ads. MP4, MOV or GIF, same aspect ratio range and 4:5 crop, with 1440 x 1800 pixels recommended. Video captions are not supported.
• Image carousels. Between 2 and 10 cards, with a landing page URL required. Carousels are image only for now.

For all three, Meta recommends primary text of 80 to 160 characters and a headline of 40 characters. URLs are not supported in the primary text, and not every call-to-action button is supported. Advantage+ catalog ads also work on Threads, which matters for ecommerce brands.

The practical point: 4:5 is the safe shape. If your creative is built for 9:16 Reels, check how it crops on Threads.

What Threads ads cannot do yet

According to Meta's help centre, ads will not deliver on Threads if you use:

• Advantage+ creative or dynamic creative
• Partnership ads
• Boosted posts from Instagram
• Collection ads

Some conversion locations and performance goals are also unsupported. For lead generation, the big one is instant forms: Meta lists them as not supported on Threads, along with calls and messaging conversations through Messenger, Instagram Direct and WhatsApp. You also cannot yet use organic Threads posts as ads.

Measurement is still catching up too. Meta says certain Threads placement metrics, "which includes clicks and post engagement", are "still in development" and should be used "for directional guidance". On the organic side, Engadget reported in September 2026 that Threads removed link click data from its in-app insights, and that a Meta spokesperson would only say the company was "exploring" the feature.

If you depend on instant forms, messaging or clean click data, treat Threads with care. Our guide to lead quality vs quantity explains why cheap clicks and cheap leads are not the same as good ones.

Is Threads worth it for UK businesses?

Meta does not publish Threads user numbers by country, so nobody can give you a reliable UK audience figure. What we can say is that UK users have been among the first to get some Threads features. When Meta launched "Your Algo", which lets people privately control what they see in their feed, in June 2026, it was available in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

It also helps to keep Threads in proportion commercially. In the Q1 2026 follow-up call, Susan Li said Meta did not expect Threads "to be a meaningful driver of overall impression or revenue growth this year". eMarketer forecasts that Threads US ad revenue will reach $1.01 billion in 2026, which it puts at 0.7% of total social network ad spending. Threads is a growing placement inside Meta, not a separate world.

Threads may suit you if

• You already run Meta ads and have conversion tracking in place, so you can judge Threads on real results.
• Your audience follows news, sport, culture, tech or other conversation-led topics.
• You run sales or website traffic campaigns with image or carousel creative.

Threads probably is not a priority if

• Most of your leads come through instant forms, calls or WhatsApp conversations.
• Your budget is small and already stretched across Facebook and Instagram.
• You rely heavily on partnership ads with creators. Those do not run on Threads yet, so your UGC and creator ads will keep working elsewhere.
• You have no one to reply to comments. Ads in a conversation app attract replies.

How to test Threads ads without wasting budget

For most UK businesses, the smart move is not a new "Threads campaign" but making the placement you are probably already paying for accountable.

1. Check your placement breakdown. In Ads Manager, break down recent campaigns by placement and look for Threads feed. Compare cost per result, and more importantly downstream sales or qualified leads, with Instagram and Facebook feeds.
2. Set up a real Threads profile. Add it to your business portfolio so ads run under your own Threads identity and you can manage comments.
3. Make 4:5 creative. Use placement asset customisation, which Meta supports on Threads, to give the Threads feed creative that fits.
4. Write for a conversation feed. Short, plain primary text that reads like a post, not a banner. Remember there are no links in the primary text.
5. Track off-platform. Use UTM tags and judge results in your analytics and CRM, not just in Ads Manager. Our guide on how to measure marketing ROI walks through the basics.
6. Give it time and enough spend. Judge Threads over a few weeks of real conversions, not a handful of days.
7. Decide, then control. If Threads is earning its keep, leave it in. If it is not, our post on Meta removing placement controls explains the levers left: account-level placement controls and placement value rules, which can bid a placement down by up to 90% but not to zero.

With Black Friday spend ramping up, step one is worth doing this week. Our Black Friday marketing guide covers the wider planning.

Threads ads vs X ads for UK brands

Threads is bought inside Meta Ads Manager and shares targeting, tracking, creative and budget with Facebook and Instagram, at the cost of less control. X has its own ads platform, pixel and creative process. For most UK small and medium businesses already on Meta, Threads is the lower-effort test, but neither should replace channels that already deliver. Our comparison of Meta ads vs Google ads is a better starting point if you are still deciding where the core budget goes.

What about organic Threads?

Threads insights now show which communities drive engagement on each post, but with link click data gone, organic Threads is better for building an audience than for sending measurable traffic. We cover the wider trend in our posts on organic reach decline and organic vs paid social. If you are comparing smaller text-led networks, see our guide to Bluesky for business, which has no native ads at all.

FAQ

Can UK businesses advertise on Threads?

Yes. Meta rolled out Threads ads to users in all markets from January 2026 and said in its Q2 2026 results that the global expansion was complete. UK businesses buy Threads ads through Meta Ads Manager.

Do I need an Instagram account to run Threads ads?

Not any more. Since September 2026, Meta says businesses without an Instagram profile can run Threads ads from a native Threads profile, although the change is rolling out gradually. Without a Threads profile, your Instagram profile or Facebook Page can be used instead.

Are my Meta ads already running on Threads?

Quite possibly. Meta selects the Threads feed placement by default with Advantage+ placements and with manual placements. Check your placement breakdown in Ads Manager to see how much budget it is getting.

Has Threads really overtaken X?

Mark Zuckerberg said so on Meta's Q3 2026 earnings call on 21 October 2026, but Meta did not publish a new figure. Its last official number was 500 million monthly active users in June 2026, and X and Threads measure users differently.

Next step

If you want to know whether Threads is helping or quietly eating your Meta budget, our paid media team can audit your placement data and set up a clean test. For organic Threads and wider social strategy, see our social media management service. Book a call or email hello@blackfiremarketing.co.uk with your website and the Meta ad account you want us to look at.