The inevitable is here: Snapchat will now run ads.
You might have already noticed this over the weekend while you were sendings and receiving your best selfies, but the popular photo and video messaging app has made it official.
In a blog post on Friday, the company said, “It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this because it’s the first time we’ve been paid to put content in that space. It’s going to feel a little weird at first, but we’re taking the plunge.”
The first Snapchat advertisement is a 20-second video trailer for the upcoming board-game horror film “Ouija”, which opens October 24, just in time for Halloween. According to a report from Advertising Age, Universal Studios, which will release “Ouija,” edited the trailer so it would look like a “Snapchat Story.” In the future, ads will appear in users’ “Recent Updates” section and not in their active photo stream.
The company also thankfully made a note of letting users know that viewing the ad is entirely optional (at least for now). Just like the Stories feature (which allows users to compile a long series of photos and videos to share with all of their followers), Snapchat ads will disappear after you’ve viewed it or after 24 hours.
“We want to see if we can deliver an experience that’s fun and informative, the way ads used to be, before they got creepy and targeted,” the blog added. For now, the inclusion of ads does not appear to be driving users from the app.
Check out the full official trailer for “Ouija” below:
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