Snapchat inks deal with Foursquare for more precise geofilters

Snapchat will soon be able to show you ads that more precisely pinpoint where you are at any given time.

Snap, the company behind the ephemeral messaging app, just reached a deal with Foursquare that will allow it to use the location intelligence company's extensive library of mapping data to power its geofilters, the place-specific graphics that users can overlay on their photos.

That means the company will be able to target ads within more clearly delineated areas, potentially opening the door to a new subset of advertisers like parks, farmers' markets and smaller stores.

Snapchat currently offers users geofilters that correspond to nearby cities or landmarks in addition to the sponsored placements it sells to businesses.

But while the company's current offerings may only be able to narrow a user's location down to, say, a college campus or a specific shopping center, the new partnership will allow it to maybe zero in on a specific building within that broader space.

The agreement could also allow for ad deals in which a retail chain might buy filters that would appear across each of its individual stores.

"Snap's Geofilters will be more interesting and specific, which will make Snapchatters happy," Mike Harkey, Foursquare's VP of business development, wrote in an email to Mashable.

"Advertisers will surely have fun targeting certain place categories, such as movie theaters over Thanksgiving, or big-box stores on Black Friday," he continued. "We look forward to seeing the creativity unfold."

Snapchat is just the latest tech giant to sign onto Foursquare's data-sharing roster, which also includes Twitter, Uber, Apple and Pinterest.

The move comes as marketers have grown increasingly interested in ways to drive people into physical stores through smartphone ads.

As people spend a growing amount of their web time on mobile devices and brick-and-mortar shopping continues to reign supreme over e-commerce, brands are finding that this type of location tracking is the most effective way to reach people.

Facebook and Google -- currently the powerhouses in the mobile ads world -- have also set their sights on ad products in a similar vein.