Snapchat to emerge a news, video and ad platform

Snapchaton users will soon be seeing ephemeral ads, news and videos from brands, as well as short-lived messages from their friends.

The Wall Street Journal said Snapchat was working on a new service called Snapchat Discovery that would show branded content to users of the popular app wappadvice.com reported.

With the product, users would be able to read daily editions of publications as also watch video clips of TV shows or movies by holding down a finger on the screen, like they do with photos and other messages on the app before disappearing.

Snapchat has reportedly been in talks with advertisers and media companies, including newspapers, magazines, and television networks, regarding possible partnerships on Snapchat Discovery.

The service, which is Snapchat's first foray into revenue generation,  will  reportedly be launched in November, which is likely to raise its valuation.

The service was last year valued at over $2 billion and courted by Facebook with a $3-billion acquisition offer (See: Photo-messaging startup Snapchat rejects Facebook's $3 bn bid: report).

Snapchat, launched in July 2011, gained  immense popularity among users who enjoy sending and receiving ''disappearing'' messages, prompting similar services from other companies, most notably Facebook, which recently released Slingshot and whose Instagram division recently soft-launched Bolt.

Meanwhile, The Australian reported that at least a dozen media companies, including newspapers, magazines and television networks, had discussed providing content for Snapchat Discovery, citing one among three people who were briefed on the discussions.

With the product, users would be able to read daily editions of publications as also video clips of TV shows or movies by holding down a finger on the screen, like they did with photos and other messages on the app.

The company last year raised funding at a valuation of more than $2 billion and rejected an acquisition offer of about $3 billion by Facebook.

It had since then sought to raise funds from investors at increasingly high valuations. Last  month, Alibaba Group mulled and passed on an investment in Snapchat at a valuation of over $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

According to commentators, the company was looking to cash in with marketers eyeing its reach with young and tech-savvy users.

The service is being used by several brands, such as Yum Brands' Taco Bell and food-delivery service GrubHub.