Snapchat is planning on launching a new service in November called Snapchat Discovery, which would send users news and other content from paid advertisers and media outlets, the Wall Street Journal reported.
See Instagram Take A Cue From Snapchat With A Significant Update
According to the report, the popular service made famous by its system of fleeting picture messages will be allowing users to view content from paid advertisers in a big attempt to make the mobile app viable as a long-term, profitable company. The content would follow the same touch-to-view model that current snaps use and would contain content from TV shows, movies, newspapers and magazines.
Snapchat Discovery would also be a significant opportunity for advertisers and news companies to reach out better to that tricky teenager demographic. According to the Wall Street Journal, more than half of Snapchat's user base are ages 13-17, and the average user checks the app 14 times a day. Using the platform as an advertising outlet could let companies directly reach out to a young audience very easily. Some companies are already ahead of the curve and have been taking to Snapchat to try out some nontraditional advertising. Companies like Taco Bell, McDonalds and even Audi have been using Snapchat for several months or, in Taco Bell's case, more than a year to send out pithy, hand-drawn advertisements to a new generation.
Twitter Is Starting To Experiment With Favorites
Three years after Snapchat's conception in a Stanford classroom, the company has, perhaps surprisingly to many, established itself as one of today's most popular and unique new forms of social media. Being able to turn a profit while holding on to its young user base with historically short attention spans is the next step in turning Snapchat into a successful company, and Snapchat Discovery seems to be the app's plan to do just that.
