Publication date: 27 Nov 2019

According to research company eMarketer, Snapchat’s global audience will grow by 14.2% in 2019 compared to 2018. eMarketer has upgraded its estimates for Snapchat users for 2019 through 2023, attributing the growth to the app’s new features and rebuilt Android platform.

New estimates suggest that Snapchat will expand its audience to 293.01 million users worldwide by the end of this year. It is an upward adjustment from 281.27 million in eMarketer’s previous forecast.

Snapchat is expected to add more than 63 million users by the end of 2023, vs. previously estimated 52 million.

The U.S. is Snapchat’s largest market, representing 27.4% of the app’s audience in 2019.

Video ads to run up to 3 minutes

Snapchat has introduced a new ad format called Extended Play Commercials allowing advertisers to run video ads for up to 3 minutes.

Extended Play Commercials will appear mid-roll, similar to shorter Snapchat commercials, and users will have the option to skip ads after six seconds.

The new format is designed to give advertisers an opportunity to tell longer stories to engaged viewers.