AdExchanger Talks: Breaking The Snap Stereotypes

Date: December 22, 2025
Host: Alison Schiff
Guest: Ajit Mohan, Chief Business Officer, Snap

Episode Overview

This episode features a deep-dive conversation with Ajit Mohan, Snap's Chief Business Officer, focusing on Snap's advertising strategy, user base evolution, business challenges, misconceptions, and the company's push toward innovation—especially in performance advertising and generative AI. The discussion also explores Snap’s approach to average revenue per user (ARPU), global growth, platform reliability, small business marketing, and the excitement around AR glasses.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ajit Mohan’s Backstory and Motivation

• Personal Anecdote (02:26–04:13):
  Ajit shares a personal story about trying (and failing) to learn multiple musical instruments as a child, which even his wife didn’t know about.

  “But I did spend a lot of my childhood chasing my mother's dreams… And learning a musical instrument was one of them.” — Ajit (03:54)

• Career Journey (04:21–06:18):

  • Former CEO of Hotstar and VP at Meta in India.
  • Now CBO at Snap, motivated by Snap’s differentiated vision as a positive, connection-driven social platform.

Snap’s Unique Platform Philosophy & User Base

• Distinctive Positioning (06:56–10:33):

  • Snap aims to offer an alternative to conventional social media, focusing on close friends and family, eschewing virality and affirmation metrics.
  • 940M+ global users—expected to reach 1B soon.
  • 90% of users report being happy on the app.

  “I think Snapchat plays a special role in providing an alternative to conventional social media… a place where people are happy.” — Ajit (07:43)

• Demographics Evolution (09:13–11:11):

  • While Snap started with a younger demographic, nearly 25% of users are now above age 34.
  • High engagement: Users open the app 50–60 times a day in many markets.

Monetization Challenges & ARPU Discussion

• Global Growth vs. Monetization (11:11–19:07):

  • Snap’s user growth is fastest outside North America, with lower ARPU in emerging markets.
  • Monetization opportunity exists globally, not just in mature markets.
  • Snap is pivoting toward direct response and performance advertising, especially with the “Sponsored Snaps” ad format in messaging.

  “The way to get ARPU to go up is to build a business that is delivering a lot more value to advertisers.” — Ajit (18:36)

• Sponsored Snaps Rollout (16:53–19:07):

  • In 2025, Snap began placing ads in the previously ad-free messaging tab.
  • Early resistance, but Kantar reports users are receptive if ads are relevant.
  • This move is driving improved advertiser performance.

Misconceptions About Snap

• Persistent Myths (19:07–26:54):
  • Snap is Just for Teens: Nearly half of users in many countries are above 25.
  • Low Purchasing Power of Young Users: Studies contradict; young users influence significant household spending.
  • Complicated Ad Platform: Snap’s innovation sometimes makes campaign setup harder; efforts are underway to improve platform familiarity and ease of use.
  • Default Ad Spend to Meta/Google: There is inertia favoring legacy platforms, but Snap sees SMBs as early adopters due to measurement-driven ROI focus.

  “Sometimes we have tended to be different in places where we don’t need to be different.” — Ajit (23:24)

The Role of Small Businesses

• Strategic Importance (33:47–38:46):

  • SMBs are critical for Snap’s long-term ad growth, providing agility and rapid validation of performance improvements.
  • Snap has built a global SMB team and is investing heavily in ad platform usability and vertical-specific solutions for SMBs.

  “SNAP is increasingly one of the largest sources of net new customers for the SMBs around the world.” — Ajit (37:53)

Platform Reliability & Auction Glitch

• Technical Setbacks & Fixes (38:46–42:25):
  • In Q2, an ad auction update caused campaigns to clear at very low prices, which was good for advertisers but hurt revenues and stock price.
  • Snap responded by strengthening engineering processes and early detection for glitches, maintaining the commitment to ongoing innovation and consistent performance.

Metrics, Scaling Performance, and ARPU Growth

• Performance Metrics Nuance (42:25–45:22):
  • Despite 39% conversion improvement, average eCPMs dropped due to the introduction of new ad supply (Sponsored Snaps).
  • Ajit likens the situation to Meta’s experience with new supply (Reels), expecting stabilization as demand increases.

  “Whenever they introduce a massive new supply, usually you’ve seen softness in the CPMs… then auction density goes up.” — Ajit (44:09)

Generative AI and the Future of AR

• Generative AI Across the Stack (45:22–52:37):

  • Snap leverages AI for content personalization, automated campaign management, creative production, and smarter audience modeling.
  • New “Smart Campaign Solutions” aim to automate budgets, creative, and targeting, especially useful for “put the money in and forget it” advertisers.
  • Notable new partnership with Perplexity for AI-powered messaging/commerce integration.
  • AR Glasses (50:20–52:37):
    • Snap is launching consumer AR glasses in 2026, potentially providing a seamless, context-aware AI experience.

    “Those glasses could also be the most intuitive carrier for AI in a world where these glasses are aware of the spaces that you’re wandering around…” — Ajit (51:29)

• Ajit’s Personal AI Use (52:37–54:00):

  • Uses generative AI for search, document synthesis, scenario analysis, and saving time—though he sees current use cases as just the beginning.

Innovation, Feature Copying, and AR Glasses Practicalities

• Innovation vs. Copying (54:54–56:09):

  • Ajit resists the idea of copying from competitors, noting Snap’s longstanding culture as an innovation leader—particularly with new ad formats.

• AR Glasses for Prescription Wearers (56:09–57:22):

  • Ajit believes people will adopt AR glasses with prescription options if they provide real utility, comparing them to prescription sunglasses.

Notable Quotes

• “I think Snapchat plays a special role in providing an alternative to conventional social media… a place where people are happy.” — Ajit (07:43)
• “We reach about 75% of 13 to 34 year olds in the largest 25 economies in the world.” — Ajit (12:21)
• “The way to get ARPU to go up is to build a business that is delivering a lot more value to advertisers.” — Ajit (18:36)
• “Sometimes we have tended to be different in places where we don’t need to be different.” — Ajit (23:24)
• “SNAP is increasingly one of the largest sources of net new customers for the SMBs around the world.” — Ajit (37:53)
• “Those glasses could also be the most intuitive carrier for AI in a world where these glasses are aware of the spaces that you’re wandering around…” — Ajit (51:29)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ajit’s Musical Failures & Hotstar Years: 02:26–06:18
• Snap’s Vision and User Enjoyment: 06:56–10:33
• ARPU, Performance Ads, and Sponsored Snaps: 11:11–19:07
• Addressing Advertiser Misperceptions: 19:07–26:54
• Small Business Strategy: 33:47–38:46
• Ad Auction Glitch & Platform Reliability: 38:46–42:25
• Scaling Performance & eCPMs: 42:25–45:22
• Generative AI & AR Glasses: 45:22–52:37
• Ajit’s Personal Use of AI: 52:37–54:00
• Innovation, Copying, and Prescription AR Glasses: 54:54–57:22

Memorable Moments

• Ajit jokes about ‘snap-on sunglasses’ and the irony of the term (57:29).
• Alison and Ajit commiserate over the time saved thanks to AI-transcription, a formerly “hellacious” task (54:00).

This episode offers a comprehensive look at Snap's evolving strategy to break out of legacy stereotypes, wield cutting-edge AI tools, and seriously compete with tech giants for ad dollars—while maintaining the platform's unique user enjoyment and connection-focused culture.