Snapchat captures $90m from advertisers in 2016

Picture messaging app Snapchat raked in a cool $90m in revenue from advertisers last year, according to the chief executive officer of the world's largest ad company, WPP.

The popular app is becoming a hotspot for companies to advertise their products, with previous forecasts at the beginning of 2016 suggesting that around $30m would be spent by its clients.

Martin Sorrell said on Tuesday that the company could also become a major competitor to Facebook, especially considering the speculation that it is lining itself up for an initial public offering over the next year.

"It does become a threatening alternative to Facebook and I think that's the big opportunity for them. We know Facebook have tried to buy Snapchat a couple of times, we know that they've made product changes as a result of Snapchat's products," Sorrell told CNBC.

The WPP CEO also pointed towards issues surrounding the US presidential election and so-called "fake news" as a possible way in which Snapchat could gain an advantage over the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

"I think with the measurement issues, with the fake news issues, and the fraud issues that the internet faces, clients want to try and experiment," he said.

Snapchat is a social media platform whereby users can upload photos of themselves with short messages and filters, which can only be seen for a matter of seconds before disappearing.

Its recently-formed parent company, Snap Inc., is gearing up for a flotation which looks likely to value the business at around $25bn.