The company will start charging companies for putting ads on its picture sending platform.
Snapchat will start charging companies two cents to put video ads on its picture-sending platform, finally presenting a plan for just how the company plans to make money.
A 10-second ad on Snapchat will cost advertisers two cents per view, according to AdWeek.
Snapchat made the announcement at the Daily Mail/Elite Daily Digital Content NewFronts presentation Thursday.
For years, investors and journalists have questioned how Snapchat —which is especially popular with Millennials — would turn its strong user base into cashflow for investors. This latest development could be a sign that the company is trying to move into a position to start bringing in revenue.
COMMENTARY: Snapchat is a photo- and video-messaging app. A group of 20-something Stanford University students developed and launched the app in 2011.
Snapchat is unique in that all photos and videos only last a brief amount of time before they disappear forever, making the app ephemeral in nature, though users can take a screenshot to save Snaps. As of May 2014, the app's users were sending 700 million photos/videos per day.
Due to the instant popularity of Snapchat, Facebook reportedly offered to acquire Snapchat for $3 billion. One of the app's cofounders declined the cash offer however. Facebook has since launched a rival ephemeral photo app called Slingshot.
Who uses Snapchat?
Everyone uses Snapchat. It is directed toward teens and adults.
Snapchat is mostly popular among teenagers, according to several research firms, but it is catching on and embracing new demographics every day. Viners - personalities who use the Vine app - even use Snapchat's Story feature as another means of communicating with fans.
According to the December 2014 comScore Media Metrix Multi-platform study, internet users ages 18 to 24 accounted for 45% of Snapchat users in the US. Their older millennial counterparts—25- to 34-year-olds—had the second-largest share of users, though one nearly 20 percentage points lower, leaving the 35-and-older group with just 30% share.
Unsurprisingly, millennials spend more time each day with Snapchat than their older counterparts. Cowen found that those ages 18 to 29 allocated nearly 20 minutes per day to Snapchat on average, vs. just under 9 minutes for the 30-to-44 group.
What's the point of Snapchat?
We could give a long explanation, in which we describe how social media and apps are evolving in order to match the current trends and interests of active users around the world, but we'll just share the following video instead.
How does Snapchat work?
We'll be the first to admit that Snapchat is so simple it's almost confusing.
The app's main screen is your camera view and that can be initially a little jarring or weird to navigate around. Try to remain calm however and keep reading to learn exactly how Snapchat works. By the time you're done browsing our mini tutorial, you'll be snapping like a 14 year old.
Main screen
First thing's first: Download Snapchat (it's free) and create an account and user ID. Once that's done, the app will always open and show your camera view straightaway. The camera view actually serves as the main screen.
The top left-hand corner has a Flash button for toggling your camera's flash, while the top-right hand corner has a Camera button for toggling the camera between front-facing and rear-facing mode. And of course the center of the main screen shows you whatever your camera sees.
On the bottom of the camera view there is a big round Camera button in the center for taking a picture or video (aka Snaps). Hold the Camera button down to record a video with sound or tap the Camera button to take a picture. Simples.
The bottom left-hand corner of the main screen has a square-shaped Notification symbol that will display in numbers how many unread Snaps are waiting for you. Tap it to go to your Recents list and begin viewing unread Snaps.
The bottom right-hand corner has a Contacts button. You can tap it whenever you want to find a contact, view a Story (more on that later), or add new Contacts (again, more on that later).
UPDATE (January 2015): The main screen now has another button: a Snapchat logo button, found at the top of the screen. Tap it to see who has added you and your contacts. You can also use it to find friends.
Adding Contacts
Tap the Contacts button from the bottom right-hand corner of the main screen. Your Contacts screen should then open, with a Camera symbol in the top left for going back to the main screen and an orange Add Contacts button in the top right for adding contacts.
Tap the Add Contacts button in the top right of your Contacts screen. You will then see a list of Snapchatters (aka friends) who have added you as well as three symbols - from left to right - for viewing who has added you, finding Snapchatters in your contacts, and searching for Snapchatters.
Select the Find Snapchatters button, which looks like an address book, and tap the + icon next to your friend's name if you'd like to add them. You can also tap the envelope icon next to a friend's name to send a request to join Snapchat.
If your friends aren't in your Snapchat contacts, which were pulled from your device and other social networks, select the Search Friends icon. It looks like a magnifying glass. From there, type in your friends' usernames to find and add them.
You can also add contacts by using the Snapchat button found at the top of the main camera screen. Tap it to see who has added you and your contacts. You can also use it to find friends.
Courtesy of an article dated May 8, 2015 appearing in Fortune and an article dated April 8, 2015 appearing in eMarketer
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