Snapchat Closes Only Paid Service, Focuses on Ads
- Friday, April 22nd, 2016
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Snapchat has closed its only paid product, in favour of an entirely ad-supported model.
Last September, as the messaging app began searching for its monetisation strategy, it introduced its first-ever paid feature: unlimited replays, which let users access messages after they had been played and deleted at a cost of $0.99. But the latest Snapchat update makes it so that every snap can be replayed once, with no option – paid or otherwise – to see it again.
This move follows in the footsteps of the Lens store, Snapchats second attempt to introduce in-app purchases, which opened last November but was shuttered in January. The message seems to be clear – Snapchat isnt interested in its users money, and plans to rely entirely on ad dollars.
Snapchat has also added a new feature which lets users face-swap with any picture stored on their phone. The results certainly cant be worse than the companys decision to add a Bob Marley filter to its app this week, which was almost immediately criticised as digital blackface.