Comscore Adds Limited Measurement Tool for Snapchat Discover
Snapchat agrees to let Comscore provide independent count, at least at a high level
Publishers are about to get more credit for all the viewers who watch their Snapchat Discover channels, though advertisers will still have to wait for audited numbers on specific shows.
Snap chat parent Snap Inc. is rolling out a new partnership with Comscore Inc. that enables the measurement company to tabulate viewership for each publisher’s total audience in Snapchat Discover, a section of the photo and video-messaging app where users can view stories published by media companies.
Those numbers will be made available to media companies and advertisers through comScore’s Media Metrix platform, a scoreboard for audiences across various media. Comscore won’t break out viewership for Snapchat Discover directly but will instead add Snapchat Discover viewership to a publisher’s aggregate audience totals.
The data will be available to Comscore subscribers beginning in mid-November. Publishers already get internal numbers from Snapchat, but this is the first time Snapchat Discover audiences will be measured by an outside measurement company.
Snap has faced criticism from media buyers who pushed the company to provide audited measurement figures to advertisers. A year ago, the company rolled out Snap Pixel, a feature that enables advertisers to track whether viewers who watch Snapchat advertisements ultimately purchase their products.
“In the short term, it’s always good to see more traction towards third-party measurement, even when it’s a smaller step,” said Jessica Prassel, U.S. social practice lead for media and marketing services provider Mindshare North America. “What we would really like to see with Snap in the long term is more specific third-party breakdowns of audience and engagement.”
To drive more advertiser growth, platforms like Snapchat need stronger third-party measurement tools that show what audiences are watching and for how long, Ms. Prassel said.
The addition of Comscore as a measurement partner will be especially helpful to clients and teams who have strict guidelines for planning and partner selection, said Sarah Baehr, co-chief investment officer at independent media services agency Horizon Media Inc.
“The key, however, will be whether or not the data, as it is being collected, is enough to validate that Snapchat is a stronger partner versus other options,” she said.
In an era in which viewers are finding news, entertainment and information on a variety of platforms, it can be difficult to get an accurate assessment of a media company’s total audience, said Nick Bell, vice president of content at Snapchat.
“It used to be very easy to look at your ratings for TV or your circulation for print, and you’d have that one number to focus on,” Mr. Bell said. “This integration helps advertisers get a better understanding of how many people their media partners reach.”
The new Comscore measurement debuts more than a week after Snapchat reported results for the third quarter, posting 43% revenue growth that was mitigated by a decline in its number of daily users. The day Snap reported its earnings, Bloomberg reported that Vogue, Wired and GQ, titles owned by publisher Condé Nast Inc., were discontinuing their Snapchat channels and laying off the employees that produced them.
A Condé Nast spokeswoman said the company’s relationship with Snapchat is continuing with its channels for Self and Teen Vogue, its titles’ Snap stories and more than 20 original shows.
A Snap spokeswoman said the number of partners producing shows for Discover is increasing, with 55 partners creating 125 shows every week as of October, up from 9 partners creating 12 weekly shows a year earlier.
Mr. Bell said Snapchat users have tripled the average time spent watching Discover since the beginning of the year, but declined to disclose how many people watch or provide other specifics.
Write to Benjamin Mullin at Benjamin.Mullin@wsj.com