Snapchat viewers are now seeing a new type of ad and those ones which they have to watch without skipping. The first forced-view ads, meaning they can’t be skipped no matter who hard you try. Ads have started popping up on the app, promoting movies like “Deadpool” and “Adrift” and products such as Lipton’s Tea bags.
Snapchat has confirmed that it would start offering non-skippable ads for the first time. The new ads appear like commercials in the middle of a show, similar to TV, a medium Snapchat has tried to emulate this update for mobile usage.
Forcing viewers to sit through ads is a big step for the company that once had an aversion to any commercials users couldn’t control and now since Snapchat is struggling because Snapchat hits an all-time low among millennials. Although, Snapchat’s video ads have been immediately skippable since they first arrived in 2014. Snapchat’s initial ad business was on an entirely voluntary viewing format.
The six-second ad also appeals to the studios and networks creating the shows. Networks like Fox and AMC are creating six-second ad space on TV as they try to appease a commercial-weary audience.
Snap Inc. is not the only social platform that has compromised in order to appease brands. Recently, Facebook has also started showing pre-roll video ads before the main content, even though Mark Zuckerberg had banned them for years.
Do you like watching unskippable ads? Let us know in the comments below.
Pakistani e-Founders share their learnings from the Alibaba Fellowship Program