Snapchat has broadcast its first non-skippable ads following an April announcement that the format would be introduced on the site. The six-second spots are only available on the site's Shows series in the Discover section, and are in response to increasingly unhappy brands whose content has gained less than two seconds of visibility, according to an anonymous insider. Indeed, these six-second spots are only available in Shows, the professionally produced, episodic series from top media partners like NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co. and Viacom that appear in Snapchat's Discover section -- programs like "Phone Swap" from Elisabeth Murdoch's Vertical Networks and ESPN's version of "SportsCenter" for the app. Critics have said the forced-view ads don't link to videos or e-commerce experiences like Snapchat's other ads. Snap is also testing a new ad format, which will allow advertisers to buy more time for their ads, but not necessarily spend it on video.
Snapchat has broadcast its first non-skippable ads following an April announcement that the format would be introduced on the site. The six-second spots are only available on the site's Shows series in the Discover section, and are in response to increasingly unhappy brands whose content has gained less than two seconds of visibility, according to an anonymous insider. Critics have said the forced-view ads don't link to videos or e-commerce experiences like Snapchat's other ads. Snap is also testing a new ad format, which will allow advertisers to buy more time for their ads, but not necessarily spend it on video.