Snap Opens Its API to All Brands, Agencies, and Tech Firms

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Snap wants your ad dollars.

The company is providing open access to its marketing API, a move that will allow brands, agencies, and marketing technology firms to explore advertising on the social platform more freely, Business Insider reported. The API, launched in 2016, was previously available only to a select group of Snap’s partners.

The decision has direct implications for local. Snap is opening its API to encourage companies of various sizes to consider it as a viable venue for their ad dollars, paving the way for SMBs to tap into the platform. Snap’s revenue from SMBs doubled from the third to fourth quarter in 2017, Snap CFO Imran Khan told BI. 

With the move, Snap follows in the footsteps of its social predecessors Twitter and Facebook, which also sought to expand their advertising bases by democratizing usage of their APIs. 

With smaller brands as well as fledgling agencies and tech companies looking to harness Snap’s advertising power, the photo-messaging platform should see its auctions attract more bidders and its overall ad revenue rise.

The news comes after a good quarter for Snap and bad news for Facebook. While Snap had its best quarter yet on the market, adding 8.9 million daily active users, Facebook posted its slowest daily user growth ever. Particularly concerning for Facebook is a drop-off in engagement from Gen-Z and millennial users, whose widespread addiction to digital media makes them a prime target for marketers.

Meanwhile, it has already been clear that Snap is out to take back the advertising dollars Instagram wrested from it by ruthlessly replicating Stories, the trademark feature that made Snap popular with Gen-Z and millennial users. Snap has been offering Instagram advertisers free ads on its platform.

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Joe Zappa is the Managing Editor of Street Fight. He has spearheaded the newsroom's editorial operations since 2018. Joe is an ad/martech veteran who has covered the space since 2015. You can contact him at [email protected]