Meta Unveils Expanded Ad Features for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

At this year’s NewFronts event, Meta introduced a broad range of advertising updates aimed at strengthening brand and creator partnerships across its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Among the headline changes is a test of trending Reels ads on Instagram. These placements will allow advertisers to position their content alongside top-performing Reels, categorized by themes such as sports or beauty. This mirrors TikTok’s “Pulse” format and is designed to help brands gain visibility next to culturally relevant content.

Meta is also upgrading its Creator Marketplace with a new trends hub. This tool will use AI to identify and rank popular topics on Instagram Reels, giving marketers access to relevant content and creator recommendations. Filters by region, topic, and time period aim to help brands align their campaigns with timely trends.

Further enhancements to the Creator Marketplace include performance metrics like hook and interaction rates displayed on creator profiles, making it easier for brands to evaluate potential collaborators. A test of an API for the platform is also underway, which could streamline creator discovery.

On Facebook, Meta is bringing AI-powered content recommendations—already in use within Instagram’s Partnership Ads Hub—into its own ad platform. These suggestions highlight high-performing organic posts featuring brand mentions that could be converted into paid promotions.

Meanwhile, Threads is seeing the introduction of video ads, following the earlier rollout of static placements. These autoplay ads will appear between posts in users’ feeds and expand when clicked. Meta also confirmed Threads has reached 350 million monthly active users.

Other announcements include optional brand handle displays in Partnership Ads, a test of Facebook Live ad boosts, and AI-generated video resizing on Reels to support multi-format campaigns.