Shortly after rolling out a massive redesign which annoyed most of its users, Snapchat announced that unskippable ads are next on the menu. The new feature, which is likely to annoy users even more, was reportedly asked for by shareholders.
Sources familiar with the matter told Digiday, that the messaging app will sport six-second commercial ads during certain Snapchat Shows. The company calls the new ads, which cannot be skipped or muted, “Commercials.”
Snapchat’s annoying ad feature will be rolled out May 15, according to sources. For a short time, the Discover feed or users’ Stories will not be interrupted by the ads.
Experts believe that Snapchat’s latest move is an indirect admission that a change needs to be made. When the tech company launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 2017, it was already losing money.
Users Still Furious About Snapchat’s Makeover
Meanwhile, things have not gotten any better. In its most profitable quarter last year, it still shed $350 million. The first quarter this year is not expected to be rosier, so Snapchat has to come with a plan to prevent investors from leaving.
Yet, Snapchat should not only be concerned about losing investors. Many users are furious over the uninspired redesign of the app in the recent months. A petition signed by over 1 million users urged Snapchat to revert the app to the original interface.
The company admitted that many users are frustrated but refused to scrap the redesign.
We’ll first learn how much of an impact the redesign has had on the company’s revenue on May 1. Some analysts expect the redesign to not influence the company’s profits at all.
According to a TechCrunch poll, 83 percent of Snapchat users don’t like the new interface. But in March, a separate report revealed that the redesign had zero impact on the number of daily active users.
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