Just when you thought Google and Bing had the answer for everything, there’s a new search kid in town: Snapchat. Yep, you read that right!

What’s happening with Snapchat and search?

Snapchat is the popular mobile app where users send pictures and videos to each other that disappear a few seconds after they’ve been viewed. Now Snapchat is changing up how users search for stories as well as introducing a new stream for adverts.

How can I use Snapchat’s new search?

Snapchat’s current search abilities only extend to finding other accounts by searching for a username; the new search will mean that users can both find relevant accounts to follow and stories to watch from a range of different interests and topics. So if you’re searching for doughnuts, Snapchat will bring up accounts and stories that are relevant to doughnuts.

This new development is different to Snapchat Discover, as the searches will be undertaken by an AI (artificial intelligence) algorithm that examines the text, time and location of/in snaps to assess whether they’re relevant to what a user is looking for.

The search benefits

This heightened search relevancy is a great opportunity for advertisers to display their content, and there is of course the potential for sponsored stories to eventually emerge. The new search is said to be available in some parts of the United States, but it’s not been made clear when it will be rolled out worldwide.

What do you think of this interesting social media move? Jump in on the conversation and leave us a comment below! Don’t forget to add us on Snapchat: sleepinggiantm