Snap introduces Snap Select, which lets advertisers buy ads exclusively for Snap's premium content, like its shows and vetted premium partners, at fixed CPMs
When the hedges arrived at La Malmaison on Saturday, they had to be trimmed down. Snapchat wanted the vibe of its Cannes space to open — not private and exclusive. Tweets: @rakeshlobster , @richbtig , @digiday , @russcp , and @richbtig Tweets: Rakesh Agrawal / @rakeshlobster : I've been saying forever that Google and FB need to this. Offers brand safety. Of course, it also gives some pricing power back to premium publishers, which they'd be loathe to do. https://twitter.com/... Rich Greenfield / @richbtig : $SNAP @Snapchat #CannesLions “And every time he wasn't out in public, [@evanspiegel] was with me doing a client meeting,” [Jeremi] Gorman said." via @Digiday @kerrymflynn https://digiday.com/... @digiday : Snap, with its new, expanded executive team, wants to be seen as a good partner. And it's working http://digiday.com/... Russ Caditz-Peck / @russcp : “Snap's pitch at #CannesLions2019 includes touting its reach of 90% of 13- to 24-year-olds in the U.S., first revealed by Spiegel at the Snap Partner Summit in April. Snap also has new research touting the value of that audience, Gen Z.” https://digiday.com/... via @kerrymflynn Rich Greenfield / @richbtig : “In Discover, hand-curation is very useful for us, and we curated even further with Snap Select, which was a reaction to advertisers not wanting to be next to UGC at all. That's been a huge gangbuster,” Gorman said." https://digiday.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Snap's ad business was built on persuading brands to try untested formats — the playbook behind its early growth — and it has repeatedly collided with publishers over who sells the inventory: back in 2016 it moved to sell ads on Discover channels where BuzzFeed and Vox held exclusive rights. Snap Select extends both threads at Cannes: rather than fighting publishers for channel inventory, Snap now curates shows and vetted premium partners into one guaranteed buy.
The timing matters against Snap's financial backdrop — a Q4 2018 report showing revenue up 72% but net losses widening faster — which puts pressure on products that can command predictable, premium pricing instead of auction-dependent fill.
First-order effects
- Advertisers get brand-safe, guaranteed placement across Snap's shows and vetted partners at fixed CPMs, removing the uncertainty of bidding on open exchange inventory.
- Publishers and creators inside the vetted pool gain a new packaged demand channel, but Snap sets the CPM and controls which content qualifies — echoing the earlier Discover inventory dispute where Snap inserted itself between publishers and their ad rights.
Second-order effects
- Fixed-CPM premium packages put competitive pressure on Google and Facebook to offer equivalent curated buys — a gap Rakesh Agrawal flagged publicly, noting they have resisted because fixed pricing hands pricing power back to premium publishers.
- As Snap curates supply, buyers' budgets tilt toward platform-vetted packages over publisher-direct deals, repricing what 'premium' means outside the walled gardens.
Third-order effects
- If fixed-price curated tiers prove out, social platforms consolidate the brand-safety layer of the market: publishers compete to be included in platform packages rather than selling their own inventory, repeating the aggregation pattern Snap started with its Ads API and reviewed-only inventory in 2016.
The trend: Social platforms are re-bundling curated, brand-safe premium inventory at fixed CPMs, shifting ad pricing power from auctions and publishers toward platform-controlled packages.