While arguably the hottest social platform around, it can’t be said that Snapchat is in the same league as other channels when it comes to brand advertising. But with new image recognition technology in the works, might the app soon woo brands?

Snapchat has an ever-growing roster of advertising options with its Ads API and “Partners for Ads” tools available, with the former enabling businesses to purchase campaigns, and the latter in place to help them partner with developers for the purposes of targeting their ads effectively. There’s also an Ad Measurement tool available, providing information on how well campaigns are performing, and which ones its worth maintaining or recreating in future. Users can view ads in a number of ways, with branded videos, brand websites and articles all available to see should he or she download the brand app which Snapchat has promoted. And the app is also rolling out a new ad option, in which ads will be shown every so often to users in between tapping through Stories.

The thing that Snapchat lacks though, is user data. In comparison to Facebook for instance, Snapchat has limited targeting options, with device, age, gender, location, mobile carrier, and interests the only areas available for now. Because of this, coupled with Snapchat’s ephemeral nature, there has been less user insight collected over time. With 150 million users, the platform is undoubtedly a goldmine for potential data, but without detailed access to this, advertisers have shown to be slightly hesitant. This, in conjunction with high advertising costs, (which have been lowered since their introduction), have deterred many brands from committing to spend.

Just this week though, Snapchat filed a patent for image recognition technology. This would allow the app to pinpoint images of certain objects and locations in users’ snaps, for the purposes of showing tailored ads, coupons, and filters. As Business Insider states, a snap of the Empire State Building taken on the app could bring up a filter of King Kong for instance, for the user to then position on top! And its as specific as noting the position too- for instance, a picture of the south side of the building could result in a King Kong’s back being displayed, while the reverse would be true for the north side. Snaps taken at restaurants and shops might result in coupons or recommended items being displayed, for instance. Currently, Snapchat offers users geofilters to customise their images, based on location, and for brands, filters are chargeable if they want to create their own promotional ones.

This latest feature is an interesting area for brands to delve into. For instance, if a user snaps an image of an unbranded burger for instance, who’s to say whether ads or coupons for McDonalds, Burger King, or another fast food chain will pop up, and might this ignite competition? However Snapchat decides to offer this feature, whether via ad bidding for instance, remains to be seen. But if brands have this option, it would mean their target audiences are set for a highly personalised experience- something that would be very attractive for advertisers, and lucrative for Snapchat.

What do you think about the direction in which Snapchat’s advertising model is heading? Do you think brands will soon be convinced to advertise on the platform? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.