Snapchat Planning to Insert Unskippable Ads
Snapchat has just launched its big revamp late last year, and the company is now looking to recoup its investment, according to reports. The social media platform is allegedly planning to add unskippable ads, which would be a huge boon for Snapchat advertisers.
These reports are now seemingly confirmed by a recent statement from Snap, the company behind the app. According to a spokesperson, the new ad format will be called "Commercials," and each will run a six-second ad in select Snapchat Shows, at least to begin with according to Digiday.
For now, Snap has also assured users that these ads will not run in the Discover section or on the personal stories from their users. According to a couple of sources familiar with the matter, Snap is now planning to test out the new Commercials around May 15.
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With advertising being the sole source of revenue for the company, Snap is now banking on the idea that people expect ads to be a normal part of shows and broadcasts that they watch for free. This new experiment with unskippable ads, then, is one way to measure just at what point people will be turned off by show interruptions.
"They're aware people will have to get used to it," one source said, referring to people from the show production and agency side of things. "That said, so much of the Snapchat generation has gotten accustomed to watching ads to get content," the insider added.
The tests are likely limited to shows Snapchat has brought onboard as part of Snpachat Shows, which are videos three to five minutes long made up of programs from Viacom, Turner, and NBC Universal. Incidentally, these same content are very similar to those regularly shown on broadcast TV, which are expected to carry unskippable ads.
Snap, the company behind the app, was once averse to filling Snapchat with advertisements. Being a public company with stakeholders meant that the company needs to find ways to be profitable, even if it means foisting ads on Snapchat shows viewers.
Earlier this March, it was reported that Snap CEO Evan Spiegel sent out an internal email outlining a plan for the goal of putting the company back on track to profitability, or at least break even this 2018.
The company has already laid off "over 120" of its engineers, around ten percent of the engineering team Snap used to employ, according to the Business Insider. The company has also reportedly laid off around two dozen employees among its eight teams earlier in January this year, as well.
Snap also went as far as telling its employees that they are not getting cash bonuses for 2017, due to some internal goals not being met.
