Snapchat soon to launch untargeted, opt-in ads

Snapchat users will soon see disappearing ads appearing in their news feeds for the first time as the app begins to monetise on its huge user-base.

The messaging app’s co-founder and chief executive Evan Spiegel reportedly told delegates at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit that users would see the “pretty cool” ads “on Snapchat soon”.

Users will need to opt-in to receive ads, which will be woven into the “Stories” shared between friends. Unlike the app’s standard feature in which posts disappear within seconds of being viewed, “Stories” last for up to 24 hours and can be accessed by a user’s friends multiple times.

“They’re not fancy. You just look at it if you want to look at it and you don’t if you don’t. We’re cutting through a lot of the new technology stuff around ads to sort of the core of it, which I think has always been telling a story that leaves people with a new feeling.”