Snap has signalled how it intends to make money, acquiring a geofilter patent from photo app competitor Mobli.
In 2012, Mobli patented geofilters, which are filters which you can impose on your photos which include information such as your location, the time the photo was taken or even the speed which you're travelling at.
And now it's sold that patent to Snap, according to a report by Techcrunch. The Snapchat maker revealed in its S-1 filing for its IPO that $360 million of its $400 million revenues came through selling geofilters to its advertisers. This will also help Snap avoid potential legal disputes.
The filters are a useful way to promote a product, event or special day and by getting users to apply it to your image you will reach their Snap network and spread the idea you are trying to get across by using their photo, which might even be a selfie.
Moshe Hegog, who co-founded Mobli, apparently sold the patent to Snap for $7.7 million this month, which is also meant to be the highest amount paid for an Israeli tech industry patent.
What makes the patent (US#20160373805, US#9459778) special is that it covers server-side filters so the filter comes from the server and not from the app. This is particularly useful as the app doesn't have to be updated with new geofilters every time the company wants to add new ones and also should not use as much battery power as the filter effects are not being made on the phone itself.
This is an important step for Snap so that it keeps ahead of its competitors, mainly Facebook and its Instagram, and continues to be able to collect revenue from advertisers.
