Snapchat paid its publishing partners “more than $100 million” in revenue-sharing advertising deals last year, up from $58 million in 2016 and just $10 million in 2015, the company reported on Tuesday.
Some of Snapchat’s advertising revenue comes from ads that it shows alongside videos and stories created by its publishing partners — media companies like ESPN, Bleacher Report and People magazine. Money made off those ads is usually split — Snap keeps some and pays some back to the media companies who provide the content. (The splits are not the same for all publishers.)
That business is growing, and that’s great news for Snap, which is about to make content from outside partners an even bigger part of its newly redesigned app. (The redesign is still rolling out to all users, but should be available to everyone by the end of the quarter.)
If Snap can make real revenue for media companies, they’ll be more likely to partner with Snap on things like shows or stories down the line.
Of course, the arrangement doesn’t work for everybody. CNN, for example, launched a daily news show on Snapchat back in August, but cancelled it shortly after when it wasn’t making enough money.
