So long, Lens Store! The Snapchat feature is now being discontinued after an extremely short lifespan of two months. Snapchat has decided to focus on more useful (read: profitable) features.
Also Read: With Spotlights, Instagram Walks Into Snapchat’s Playground
Snapchat Lens was first introduced in September and caused waves of excitement among its users. Lens was the product of the acquisition of Looksery’s, a facial recognition app that allowed uses to send funny, sometimes scary, animated selfies. Snapchatters could modify their selfies to be scary, raging, or even make them puke rainbows.
As the feature became popular among Snapchat users, the company decided to sell premium Lens filters at $0.99 each. However, according to the latest reports, Snapchat has decided to halt the functionality of its Lens Store, in favour of its ad business.
Of course, Lens filters will still be available for brands that want to create their own custom ones. This options comes at the hefty entry price of $450,000 peaking at $750,000 during popular days, such as holidays or Black Friday.
For those who have already purchased Lens filters from the Snapchat store, one can only assume that they will get to keep them, even after the store itself shuts down. The same sources claim that Snapchat is considering letting its users get the most popular ones for free at a later time, although for now this does not look like a top priority.
To our eyes, although the economy of scale may have worked well in the case of the Lens Store, it’s true that most profit comes from sponsored material on the platform.
If you like our stories, there is an easy way to stay updated:
Follow @wersm
You might also like
More from Snapchat
Snapchat Introduces Shared Stories
Snapchat shared stories will let users who have been added to custom stories invite their own friends to contribute. Custom Stories …
Snapchat Partners With Ticketmaster To Launch New Events Map Layer
The new Ticketmaster Snap Mini will allow Snapchat users to find nearby events on the map, and tap on them …
Snapchat Introduces New Personal Safety ‘Live Location’ Feature
Snapchat is introducing a new way to keep track of where your friends are by seeing their real-time location on …
Snapchat Will Finally Let You Change Your Silly Old Username
Snapchat will now let you change your old username without compromising aspects of your account, like friends list, Snap codes, …
Snapchat Is Introducing Mid-Roll Ads In Snap Star Stories
Snapchat has announced the beta test of mid-roll ads in Snap Star Stories, a new monetization feature for creators.
Snapchat Unveils New AR Catalog-Powered Shopping Lenses
Snapchat has improved its AR shopping Lens offering by adding new Shopping Lenses that display details about products.
Snapchat Introduces New Emoji Polls, Bitmoji Reactions, And More
Snapchat is updating its app with new tweaks to personalize the in-app experience and make it more fun and engaging.
Snapchat Opens AR Christmas Market With Six Major Retailers
The holiday market will feature AR experiences from Coca-Cola, Hollister, Prime Video, Under Armour, Verizon, and Walmart.
Snapchat Launches New Multi-Format Ad Delivery Option
Snapchat's new "Multiple Formats" delivery option will allow advertisers to combine multiple video ad formats into a single ad set.
