Snap Offers Ad Credits To Siphon Advertisers From Rival Platforms

Snap Inc SNAP confirmed Friday it began offering free ad credits to advertisers running vertical video promotions on competing platforms.

A company representative told Benzinga Snap is targeting direct response, app install, e-commerce and other mid-market advertisers featured on the likes of Facebook Inc FB’s Instagram Stories, Pinterest, AdColony, ChartBoost and Vungle. Recode first reported the news.

The firm intends to poach market share through pointed outreach. Prospective clients can apply for “several hundred dollars” in credits by demonstrating ad purchases on rival sites, according to Recode.

The program appears to be an effort to address Snap’s recent struggles with ad revenue. Management continues to test opportunities as Facebook and others lure potential clients.

Snap seems to be honing in on a sweet spot. Executives addressed the firm’s ad status on the fourth-quarter earnings call, noting that they had lowered Snap Ad pricing more than 15 percent sequentially and 70 percent year-over-year while accelerating app installs and decreasing advertisers’ cost per installs.

Facebook, meanwhile, posted a 43-percent increase in fourth-quarter ad costs while increasing impressions just 4 percent.

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