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Snapchat to push Snap Maps content off of its app

Photo: Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Snapchat is launching Snap Maps on the web to make its public and often hyper-localized content available outside of the Snapchat app. The public stories that you can view on the website (map.snapchat.com) can also be embedded directly into news organizations’ websites.

Why it matters: Consumers tend to trust news from local sources over national news sources, according to Pew Research Center and Morning Consult/Politico. Platforms like Snapchat are taking advantage this by using their unique ability to quickly crowdsource news, strengthening their positions in the news ecosystem.

Snapchat has proven that its Maps technology can crowdsource real-time video and images faster than nearly any other platform. Its technology was crucial in helping first responders address victims during the natural disasters that plagued the East Coast, Texas and Mexico last fall.

  • Snapchat sees this as a prime opportunity to help serve news organizations that lack the infrastructure needed to gather local information in real time.
It’s easy to see the big benefit: This will enrich our local reporting and help us tell more robust stories. Particularly with breaking news, Snap Maps will let our journalists add relevant, on-the-ground material quickly.
— Andrew Pergam, VP Video and New Ventures, McClatchy

100 million monthly users use Snap Maps, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel announced on Snap's latest earnings call. This update, which makes crowdsourced Stories on Maps available outside of the app, could also broaden its reach.

The news comes weeks after Snapchat announced it would begin pushing other Stories content outside of its app to engage more users.

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Driving the news: Buttigieg will testify at 10 a.m. ET before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He is expected to face a relatively smooth confirmation process, though GOP lawmakers may press him on "green" elements of Biden's transportation proposals.

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