Snapchat will debut its first in-app advertisements this weekend

Snapchat today announced plans to roll out its first advertisement to its users this weekend. The ad will appear in “Recent Updates” and will only be sent to US users.The company also revealed how its ads will work on the platform, at least initially. Ads can be ignored: Users will not be required to watch them. If you do view an ad, or if you ignore it for 24 hours, it will disappear just like Stories do.

Snapchat will officially dip its toe in the rich waters of advertising. For the first time, an ad will show up in the “Recent Updates” part of U.S. users’ apps this weekend, the company said. The ad will run just like a Snapchat story — that is, it’ll be live for 24 hours then will disappear. Snapchat was blunt about why they’re turning to advertising. “We need to make money,” the company said in a blog post. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said last week that ads were coming “soon” and that they would be put with Snapchat’s stories feature, not with its more personal offerings like Snapchat messages or chat.