Snapchat has begun rolling out ads to its popular picture messaging service in the Recent Updates section of the app.
The company made the announcement that ads would be coming on Friday and ads have been rolling out since Saturday, with the first ad being for the upcoming horror movie Ouija.
"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 company said in a statement.
While the company used the word creepy to refer to the way companies track users in order to serve relevant ads, the flick being advertised certainly seems like it will reach a different level of creepy.
Thankfully users don't have to watch the ads and if they don't watch them the ads will disappear after 24 hours. If they do watch the ad, it will disappear immediately. Users don't, however, have a say in whether or not ads are delivered to their phone.
While the first ad to be served certainly is interesting and will appeal to many users, others are still frustrated at the addition of ads.
"Understandably, a lot of folks want to know why we're introducing advertisements to our service. The answer is probably unsurprising - we need to make money," said the company in a blog post on Friday. "Advertising allows us to support our service while delivering neat content to Snapchatters. We promise that we'll use the money we make to continue to surprise the Snapchat community with more terrific products - that's what we love to do!"
While it is very respectable the company has begun advertising in the way that it has, the real reach of ads is certainly questionable. Brands run the risk of spending money on an ad that no one will actually open. Despite this, it seems as though the company will, at least for now, maintain a tight grip on advertising that is shown through the app and only serve content it thinks users will find interesting.
It is still unclear as to how Snapchat will monetize advertising on its app. The company could charge each time the advertisement is delivered to a user with an extra bonus each time a user opens the ad, or it could simply charge each time a user opens the ad.
Many are applauding Snapchat's decision to serve ads in such fashion, especially in a digital ad age where some companies like Google and Facebook are constantly tracking users.
