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Snapchat Killing its Lens Store, Shifting Focus Back to their Ad Business

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Jan 11, 2016 01:01 PM EST

Snapchat is all set to shut down its Lens Store within 2 months of launching it in November last year. Even though there were tens of thousands of lens that were being purchased every day, Snapchat revealed in their company blog post on Wednesday that they need to shift their focus back to their ad business.

Through Lenses, Snapchat made its way for the first time into in-app purchases as well as paid replays of the old snaps. The users could add animated facial features to their selfies. Although Lenses were initially free, Snapchat started charging for it in November as they launched the full-blown Lens Store. Snapchat also sells these sponsored lenses to advertisers, that allows the users to use certain lenses for free up to a limited period of time. Even though they are closing the Lens Store, Snapchat will still offer Sponsored Lenses to the brands, reported The Verge.

Lenses feature was launched in September 2015 so that the users could spruce up their selfies. They could simply click a selfie and choose from the variety of lenses that would change everyday. One day they had the option to paste a mustache on their face and on other days they could use a rainbow vomit. If the users wanted to continue using a lens every day, they could buy it from the store. This way, they would have the option to use it whenever they like as they would own this lens forever. The company also earned from its lenses through branding options that it offered to its corporate sponsors. Snapchat sells these sponsorships for anything between $450,000 and $750,000 per day, according to Financial Times

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