Snapchat just made its news content a lot more difficult to ignore.
In the update, which rolled out to the iOS app on Monday, the company redesigned the stories section of its app to emphasize content from its media partners.
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The Sstories screen of Snapchat now prioritizes discover and live stories over the ones from your contacts. Stories from the app's discover section, which come from the company's media partners like ESPN, Yahoo and Comedy Central, appear at the top of the list, with stories from live events underneath.
Snapchat just prioritized curated content over friend content in Discover feed. Bold move. pic.twitter.com/Ss1Us1K8UY— David Byttow (@davidbyttow) July 13, 2015
While this update may seem minor, it highlights the company's ongoing effort to increase engagement with the app's discover content. First rolled out in January, the section features a regularly updated stream of articles, photos, videos from outlets like CNN, ESPN and Cosmopolitan.
Previous reports suggested publishers were seeing declining engagement from discover, despite initial interest. Surfacing that content in more areas of the app could certainly help boost user interest and ad revenue.
Fresh off a new round of funding that reportedly values Snapchat at about $16 billion, the company has increasingly looked for new ways to monetize its app without alienating its often vocal core user base. Snapchat introduced its first standalone ads in October and ads from live stories have reportedly been raking in some serious cash.