Snapchat Unveils a Measurement Integration With Comscore for Shows on Discover

Content partners and advertisers for shows on Snapchat Discover finally have access to third-party data following a measurement integration with Comscore, which was announced Monday. A spokesperson for Snap Inc. said the company teamed up with Comscore due to a combination of requests for third-party data by publishing partners and advertisers as well as an internal company goal of providing more transparency. The integration will begin with data from October, which will be released early this month. "We are committed to helping our partners and advertisers have a better understanding of their audience in order to build long-term, sustainable business models," said Snap vice president of content Nick Bell. "Our integration with Comscore is another important step in our continued progress toward establishing valuable measurement practices.” Traffic from Snapchat Publisher Stories and shows on Discover will be added to the publisher traffic that is already included in Comscore Mobile Metrix and Media Metrix Multi-Platform data. The Media Kitchen group director Courtney Blount said it was “exciting news” that Snapchat will provide this level of transparency, adding that with the high price point and point of entry of shows on Snapchat Discover, it was hard for her agency to recommend them as part of campaigns without being able to quantify audience numbers. [kickout id="1"] Snap Inc. and Comscore teamed up on a secure daily transfer of data on Discover use, saying that Comscore can now offer data from Snapchat Discover partners alongside data from other platforms. Comscore said the new traffic-sharing integration will provide a more holistic view of audience scale by adding data on audiences viewing publishers’ content on Snapchat Discover to data on traffic from platforms owned by the publishers. The measurement provider added that it will be able to present content partners with a complete view of engagement with their content across all platforms and that they will be able to better understand the demographics of their audience with the inclusion of audiences from Snapchat. “With so many consumers viewing content through social platforms, it’s vital that this consumption is adequately accounted for," said Comscore chief product officer Dan Hess in a statement. "We are excited to partner with Snap to integrate Discover traffic into our digital audience solutions so that both publishers and media buyers have a more complete view of audience size, engagement and potential value.” Amanda Lee Grant, managing partner and U.S. head of social at GroupM, said of Monday’s announcement, “We’ve historically needed to implement different approaches to identify social audiences for planning, strategy and budgetary exercises. This update is encouraging, as it enables planning to use a single source of truth via third-party reporting. It also helps to provide better market parity for Snapchat as it aligns them with partners that are integral to overall digital planning.” Shows on Snapchat Discover kicked off in January 2016 with the debut of Snap Original Good Luck America and more than 55 partners from leading media companies and digital studios—including Complex, Condé Nast Entertainment, Hearst, Viacom, iHeartRadio, Refinery29, Tastemade, Group Nine Media, Jellysmack, Newform, Whistle Sports, IGN Entertainment, FaZe Clan, All Def Digital, Barcroft Media and Rooster Teeth Productions—are producing over 130 shows for the platform. Snap said it aired 12 shows per week globally in October 2017. That number jumped more than tenfold to over 125 this past October and total time viewers spent engaging with shows on Discover has more than tripled since 2018 began. Not all of the news about Snapchat’s video efforts has been positive, however. Sarah Frier of Bloomberg reported last month that Condé Nast was shuttering its Snapchat channels for Vogue, Wired and GQ and laying off the people who worked on those channels. Condé Nast’s Snapchat channels for Self and Teen Vogue—and their 20-plus original shows—remain active.