It won't shock you at all to hear why they're getting these stats: ad money. The more influencers know about who's watching, the easier it will be for them to land sponsorships. While that doesn't directly improve Snap's bottom line, it gives those users a better reason to stick with Snapchat versus jumping ship to Instagram.

And that, in turn, could help Snap grow its audience. It's still struggling to add new users, and it'll certainly have trouble turning things around if Story creators drift away. This might also please brands who've been frustrated with the lack of info. The limited release leaves up-and-coming Snapchat stars out of the loop, but it's a start.