Observed Signal · Sep 18, 2024 · Product Launch · Source: OnlineMarketing.de · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
AI, AR and New Design: Snapchat Optimizes App
Snapchat unveiled a broad set of updates at the Snap Partner Summit 2024 to improve the app experience for creators and users. Spotlight and Public Stories will be merged into a unified, personalized recommendation system, while a redesigned profile design simplifies switching between private and public accounts and lets creators pin favored Snaps atop public profiles. Messaging enhancements add replies and quotes, with creators able to embed these interactions in image or video responses, supporting a high level of creator–fan engagement. The app now opens to the camera by default, encouraging instant Snaps. New AI features include Easy Lens, a text-to-Lens tool powered by large language models, and My Selfie, which generates AI-based images from user selfies (labeling remains a question). Sponsored Snaps will appear in chats to support monetization. Snap Inc. reported 850 million monthly active users, 11 million Snapchat+ subscribers, and a 16% Q2 revenue rise, though overall revenue still missed expectations, prompting ongoing app restructuring and monetization efforts.
Major feature updates and monetization initiatives from Snap Inc. affecting creators, users, and advertising formats.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Spotlight and Public Stories are merged into a unified, personalized recommendation system.
- New profile design enables easier private/public switching and allows creators to pin favorite Snaps atop public profiles.
- Followers can reply or quote Snaps; creators can embed these responses in image or video replies, boosting daily creator–fan interactions (about 15 billion).
- Easy Lens and My Selfie AI features introduced; Easy Lens uses text prompts via LLMs; over 4 million Lenses published by more than 375,000 developers/creators.
- Sponsored Snaps announced as in-chat ads to boost monetization; Q2 2024: 850 million MAU; 16% revenue growth; revenue missed expectations; DAU rose to 432 million.
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Advertising on Snapchat: Ads & Best Practices
The article surveys Snapchat’s evolving advertising and AI toolkit, highlighting omnichannel ad formats, AR-enhanced experiences, and creator monetization. It notes 943 million monthly active users and Q3 2025 revenue of $1.51 billion, up 10% year over year, with AR Lenses used over 8 billion times per day. Key innovations include My AI, Lens Studio AI Assistant, and a plan to make Perplexity the standard AI for all users in January 2026. Lens Studio has expanded to mobile and web, and Spectacles updates introduce AR advances such as Travel Mode and Eye Connect. The platform also introduces infrastructure like Snap Cloud powered by Supabase, Realistic StyleGen, FaceGen improvements, and AI Clips for personalized Lenses. Advertising options expand with Lens+ Payouts, Camera Kit, sponsored AI Lenses, Promoted Places, and Sponsored Snaps. A DMEXCO session with Snapchat and OTTO partners illustrates funnel-wide targeting and inspiration for marketers.
Snapchat launches AI Sponsored Snaps
Snapchat is rolling out a new conversational ad format called AI Sponsored Snaps that lets users chat directly with brand-run AI agents inside the app’s Chat tab. The format, which Snap says will reach its roughly 900 million monthly active users, appears as promoted Snaps in the inbox; when opened, users can ask free-form questions or choose preset prompts to interact with a brand’s agent. Conversations can surface product or travel recommendations and may include click-throughs to an advertiser’s website or app for purchase. The launch follows recent company workforce reductions—Snap cut about 1,000 roles two weeks earlier, citing investments in AI. The feature expands Snapchat’s ad product suite by embedding agentic, conversational experiences into direct messages and signals a larger industry push toward dialogic, AI-driven ad formats.
Snap Exec: Much AI-Generated Content Is Just Crap
In an interview at DMEXCO 2026, Jan Müller, Senior Sales Manager for Largest Customers DACH at Snap, discussed the platform's stance on AI-generated content. Snap has stopped recommending wholly AI-generated videos in Snapchat's Spotlight feed to combat what is often referred to as 'AI slop'. Müller acknowledged that while some AI-generated content is good, much of it is low quality. He also touched on the importance of authenticity and the mix of brand and performance advertisers on the platform.
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