This week, after Snap announced the launch of Snapchat for Web, a few headlines left some advertisers mystified: CNN speculated that Snap’s new desktop format could pit it against Zoom.
The goal is to give users the freedom to switch between their phones and computers, all while continuing their conversations on the platform. But the new desktop option could also help Snapchat take on a surprising rival: Zoom.
Snapchat said its app hosts more than 100 million video calls each month with up to 15 participants each. Now, it hopes that service will become easier and more pleasant to use when people join those calls from a desktop.
Not yet: Social media experts aren’t quite convinced that Snap is rebranding as Zoom’s latest competitor. Instead, they see the desktop feature addition more likely a play for optimism ahead of what could be a tough earnings call for Snap.
Ads? Snapchat for Web does not currently have ads, though, making it less relevant for marketers who told us they were hopeful about desktop-ad insights. We could see Snapchat being one of the first social media platforms to adopt a subscription tier business model and rely less on ads.
