As recently discussed in this article from Forbes Magazine, Snapchat dismissed a $3 billion valuation from Facebook, hoping to discover a revenue model that justifies an even higher valuation. However, the problem with giving such a high valuation to Snapchat is simply the way Snapchat expects to make money. While ad revenue has been successfully applied to sites like Facebook and Twitter, Snapchat as a mobile app relies on people sending quick, short messages to each other that disappear after a few seconds. Companies are unlikely to spend much money on advertising when the ads they could send would have to operate by the rules of the platform. The simple fact is that, for the same as many apps like Instagram, despite the largest value for the company being the consumer base, finding a way to make that user base profitable without driving them away with incessant advertising is a serious problem. The recently introduced Snapchat stories that last for a longer period of time are probably a sign that snapchat is trying to pave the way for future ads. In my opinion, monetizing a service that depends on quick, throwaway messages between people is an extraordinary challenge.