When Snapchat started selling ads, the app demanded upwards of $700,000 a spot — not Super Bowl prices, but still a hell of a lot of money. Over the years things changed: Snapchat users got used to ads, and Snapchat owner Snap started selling more ad spots at lower rates.
And the changes continue — they’re a tad boring, but stick with us. Today Snap said it’s going to let businesses buy ads at any price (sort of like Adsense), and soon the company will release a publisher tool for creating ads within the app (apparently it takes just two minutes). Snap is also training more ad agencies to sell its inventory to larger companies.
For users, there are two ways to take the news.
- Good: Snapchat won’t become Twitter or shut down if it can figure out how to keep growing its ad revenue, even if some of your friends prefer Instagram.
- Bad: Ads on Snapchat could show up more often and look way worse if the company’s new tool (coming in July) winds up being popular but churns out horrible, dumb, ugly ads. Good luck, Snap!
