Snapchat is set to introduce a sophisticated behavioural targeting tool, in a bid to make itself a more attractive offering for advertisers.
Brands using the social media network to advertise will be granted access to personal user data in order to provide more personalised and relevant campaigns.
The feature is the latest in a series of developments for Snapchat advertising – a function that has only been available since 2014.
Questions have been raised about the intrusive nature of the development. Indeed the company’s CEO, Evan Spiegel, has previously denounced the act of tracking users for tailored advertising as ‘creepy’. However, for now, the platform will not capture data from web browsing history outside the app.
Snapchat’s privacy centre addressed the trepidation: “We want you to feel understood. We want to understand what’s relevant to you and your life, and we want to show you things that you’ll care about.
“At the same time, we don’t want to serve ads that are so custom-tailored that they feel invasive or uncomfortable.”
According to the company’s director of revenue operations, Clement Xue, the tool will be rolled out in the third quarter of 2016, although the company is yet to confirm.
Snapchat currently boasts over 10 million daily active users in the UK (166 million users worldwide), and recently announced the launch of its new Snap Publisher tool.
