Snapchat is reportedly developing an application programming interface (API) that will open up new ad opportunities on the popular mobile social network.
The app, which lets users chat and share photos and videos, recently saw its user base surpass 100 million. So far, it has offered limited ad opportunities, such as ‘Snapchat Stories’, and is notoriously secretive about releasing engagement data.
Now, according to a news report in AdExchanger, Snapchat is planning on making a major shift to large scale advertising.
The platform will provide new that will let ad tech companies automate the targeting and delivery of ads to the right Snapchat users, in a similar way that brands can target Facebook and Twitters users now.
So far, Snapchat has declined to comment on the report.
Snapchat is also said to be working on improved ad targeting within its ‘Discover’ channels (used to great success by the likes of Red Bull and Burberry) and a video views metric.
The new scheme will also see the app open up far more data for advertisers to track the success of their campaigns. The report suggests Snapchat will incorporate tracking of visitor browsing and searches beyond the app, while also offering a way for brands to check on how many people have actually watched their ads.
Meanwhile, AdWeek reports that Snapchat is also testing longer-form sponsored videos for Discovery publishing partners, including ads that click through to full-length movie trailers from three different movie studios.