Despite being one of the most popular apps among young smartphone users and boasting a $10bn valuation, Snapchat hasn’t monetised its app.
Previously it was mentioned that Snapchat may charge for in-app purchases for its geo-filters or introduce money transfers and e-retail functions.
The latest report on Snapchat’s monetisation strategy comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, which claims that the app will soon add news and adverts to user’s streams via a new service called Snapchat Discovery.
WSJ adds that Snapchat has spoken with at least a dozen media companies that wish to partner with the app on its new service.
News sites such as The Daily Mail have also been mentioned as prospective partners and it is thought that Snapchat Discovery could launch as soon as November.
Advertisers have already begun to use Snapchat Stories, a service that allows the app’s users to edit multiple messages together to form a larger video clip. It is though that ads on the new service will take the form of promoted Tweets or brand pages on Facebook.
Snapchat was recently said to be the third most popular app among users between the ages of 18 and 34. Additionally, the company itself believes that over half of its users are between the ages of 13 and 17.
This will be the demographic that it will likely aim to target via ads and news stories over the coming months.