Snapchat launches location-based ad product

New York: Photo-sharing service Snapchat is launching a new location-based product that will allow businesses see whether people go to stores after seeing advertisements.

"With the new ad product, `Snap to Store`, marketers will be able to use the tool to measure whether their ad campaigns on the Snapchat app actually drive users to specific locations, like stores, restaurants and movie theaters," The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The company has been testing its new product since last year with a handful of marketers, including Paramount Pictures and 7-Eleven.

In terms of privacy, Snapchat says it only uses location data when people open the app and aggregates data from at least 1,000 Snapchat users into categories like gyms or restaurants, not specific venues.

The company is also launching a dashboard that calculates incremental visitors as well as demographic information like age, gender and region.

"Access to Snap to Store is available free to advertisers that reach a certain spending threshold with Snapchat, though the company declined to specify what that spending threshold is," the report added.