Snapchat Introduces Sponsored Snaps Ads into the Chat tab

Snapchat has announced it is expanding its ad offerings to capitalise on recent growth in its advertising business, with the launch of Sponsored Snaps.

Traditionally, the Snapchat inbox has been free of ads, but now Snap is exploring paid direct messages as part of its strategy to grow its advertising business.

Commenting on the launch Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel, said: “Sponsored Snaps appear in the chat inbox as a new Snap without a push notification, and opening the message is optional.

If a sponsored message is unopened, it will eventually disappear from your Chat tab. When opening an ad, you can reply to it or click a link to learn more. The launch partner for those ads is Disney.

The Snap Map will also be the home to more ads, more precisely Promoted Places. That will allow national brands to showcase all of their locations on the map feature. Taco Bell and McDonald’s will be the launch partners for those ads.

Neither of those ad types have been showing up in my Snapchat just yet. But I suspect it won’t be long before they do.

Ads and social media go hand in hand in the current landscape, for better or worse. You don’t have to go far to see ads on any of the major social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, or X. But how far is too far?

Having to deal with ads in Snapchat’s Chat tab is a major annoyance. While they will look different then actual messages from my friends and family, I’m still less than thrilled. If I wanted to read through an inbox with advertisements, I’ll just head back to my personal email inbox.

While Snapchat continues to pepper its app with ads, I suspect its long-term goal is to eventually steer more users to the Snapchat+ subscription offering. Subscribers can currently unlock a number of features to improve the Snapchat experience and not see Story or Lens ads.

If you want to free yourself from Snapchat, make sure to take a look at the app Locket. The app is a simple and easy way to share photos with others. It’s a great Snapchat alternative. After this latest development, I’m looking hard into switching over.