You might have noticed an increase in adverts on Snapchat, most notoriously showing up as you flick between Stories. However, it now appears Snapchat has, for the first time ever, introduced non-skippable adverts to their platform. This follows their controversial redesign just a few months ago that caused a big stir.
Only last month, rumors suggested they were in the process of creating them and now it seems they have completed their goal. These “forced-view” adverts are 6-second videos that do not offer the option of skipping. Users have reported adverts on movies, Snapple, Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and more.
It seems Snapchat’s skippable adverts were unsuccessful and despite the company being adamant it would not force advertising on its users, it appears their original business model was unsuccessful. According to Digiday, “the app has had a tough first year as a public company, struggling to grow users and missing growth expectations, and advertising is its only source of revenue.”
The new adverts will also no longer link to a website or to longer videos, but will immediately disappear after the 6 seconds. This new model could make it difficult for Snapchat to track the effectiveness of their adverts.
Do you think the new adverts will help Snapchat continue to compete with Instagram?