Snapchat reportedly asking brands $750,000 for ads (which disappear)

Snapchat users have been seeing ads in the Recent Updates section of the app since last October as the startup behind the messaging software seeks to build out its platform and pull in some revenue.

Just like the hundreds of millions of messages sent via the app every day, the ads don’t stick around forever, vanishing immediately after being viewed, or after a maximum of 24 hours.

But here’s an interesting tidbit – the startup is asking brands to cough up a whopping $750,000 a day to get their wares showing up on the service, Adweek reported on Wednesday.

In a bid to convince advertisers that it’d be money well spent, Snapchat is touting its service as “a TV-style commercial space with millions of viewers a day,” according to Adweek’s unnamed source.

An ad agency executive speaking on condition of anonymity said Snapchat “has minimums, and they are very firm on them,” suggesting the startup is confident there are plenty of brands out there willing to hand over such a huge amount of cash.

And it may be right. Up to now, McDonald’s, Samsung, Universal, Macy’s, and Electronic Arts have all posted ads on the service, though there’s really no way of telling if they actually paid top dollar (early bird discount, perhaps?). In addition, it’s not certain the brands would be willing to go on paying such a hefty sum over an extended period.

Snapchat hasn’t offered any recent information regarding how many people are using its app; the last we heard was that it had 100 million monthly users in August 2014, so perhaps we’ll be getting an announcement on the 200 million mark sometime soon.

Either way, there’s little doubt a ton of brands would love to reach the predominantly teenage user base, though the suggestion that the platform is currently unable to give marketers detailed information on how the ads are being viewed – as well as the fact that they disappear after only one watch – may be causing a number of brands to think twice before blowing $750,000 of their marketing budget on a day’s worth of Snapchat advertising.

One top brand executive told Adweek that Snapchat’s rates are “significantly higher than what’s competitive out there,” adding, “It’s difficult to go forward with a deal with Snapchat at the prices they’re quoting.”