Crazy-successful social media app Snapchat (see Snapchat, the Next Facebook) just bought Vurb, maker of a mobile search app that gives recommendations on what to do and where to go for dining and entertainment.
What does Snapchat want with a local-search app? The company isn’t saying but the techie media speculates that Snapchat wants to remedy a clunky aspect of the app that’s a barrier to developing the site as a money maker: Users can’t search to find feeds from brands. Snapchat does offer “On Demand Geo-Filters” that target promotions to users by location and time, but users can’t readily seek out business Snapchat accounts by location.
In June, Snapchat launched an API (for application programming interface), basically an open channel for ad distribution networks to place video ads on the app, as a first step toward what should be a major ramp up in ad sales.
