Priceline brings its Penny travel agent into Snapchat chat ads

The ad format is AI Sponsored Snaps, launched in April: a brand plugs its own AI agent into Snapchat’s Chat tab. According to Snap’s announcement, the plain Sponsored Snaps the format grows out of bring 22% more conversions than its other ad slots, and their cost per action, what an advertiser pays for each sale or sign-up, runs nearly 20% lower. Experian was its first partner.

Priceline says shoppers who use Penny, rebuilt in June with Anthropic’s Claude models, turn into customers at roughly double the rate of those who do not. The push comes as Thanksgiving fares on Priceline ran 20% above last year as of late October, and while Snap works to lift ad growth, which reached 4% in the third quarter.

On our Snapchat ads guide, checked on 9 November, Sponsored Snaps run in the Chat tab, the minimum budget is $5 a day and Snap advises $20 to $50. Through the API, the Chat placement runs only alongside at least one other placement.

Neither headline figure measures this format: Snap’s 22% uplift is for regular Sponsored Snaps and Priceline’s twofold rate is for Penny on its own site, so advertisers have no AI Sponsored Snaps result to plan against yet.