Snapchat announced today that it will now be giving media publishers the ability to distribute short, edited clips of news and information.
Content distributed via Discover will behave just like Snapchat’s Stories do — short clips arranged in sequence that will expire after 24 hours.
In addition to having outside companies distribute content via Discover, Snapchat is said to be working on distributing its own original content as well
Make no mistake about it though, while Discover is positioned as being all about delivering creative content to users, its also a vehicle for advertising.
Each story featured in Discover is going to include “gorgeous advertising” — something that’s merely glossed over in the announcement which has the potential to be a huge source of revenue for the company.
Today’s announcement is a step towards Snapchat justifying its $10 billion valuation that it received without ever making money from its users. With over 100 million monthly active users there’s money to be made selling advertising through Discover.
We may also be witnessing the early stages of Snapchat becoming a major media platform, especially as the company has plans to create its own content down the road.
