The stock of Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) closed at $14.49 gaining 1.54% in yesterday’s trading session. This provider seems to have leant much from the mistake YouTube made by placing advertisements over questionable content. This social media provider has plans underway to ensure that customers gain more control over ad placement.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) earlier in the year came under fire for lack of quality control of advertisement placement. That led to an advertisers boycott since act of placing ads on videos with hate speech did not augur well with most of the advertisers. Brand reputation is a matter that a lot of companies take with much seriousness. A lot of companies have been put in a rather uncomfortable position. How matters play out in the near future is a matter that a lot of analysts have their eyes on.
Some of the major companies that pulled advertising from YouTube after the boycott included: PepsiCo, Inc (NYSE:PEP), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM).
Snap has plans underway to steer clear of a potential YouTube advertising controversy and that will be possible if it resorts to the right mechanisms. It could for instance choose to allow the various brands that buy through the advertising API or the self-serve ad buying platform. Getting the ads to run between the regular Stories and Shows produced by Snapchat and its media partners could indeed be a brilliant idea as stated by a spokesperson working with Snap.
Kip Paulson, a Cantor Fitzgerald analyst opined, “Brands can also now opt to exclude their ads from appearing adjacent to certain content categories. Advertisers were previously unable to specify ad placement, so we view these new features as advertiser friendly and therefore incrementally positive for advertiser demand.”
He added that the latest advertising options catered for better content targeting. It usually sees to it that the various brands are able to avoid the backlash experienced in YouTube’s case. It failed at preventing ads appearing next to the hateful and offensive content.