The number of videos viewed every day on messaging app Snapchat has tripled since May this year to six billion.

Snapchat confirmed the figure following a report in the Financial Times.

Last week, Facebook said it was now registering eight billion views a day of video material posted on its social media network.

However, different platforms do not use the same criteria when counting views - Facebook counts videos viewed for three seconds or longer.

YouTube only charges advertisers if a video is viewed for 30 seconds, and while Snapchat does not say how long a video must play in order to count, a recent report said advertisers were being charged even if their ad was viewed for less than one second.

According to Snapchat, more than 60% of 13- to 34 year-old smartphone owners in the US use the service, which is available only on mobile platforms.

Chief executive Evan Spiegel told Bloomberg in May that videos had reached two billion hits per day.

In 2013, Snapchat turned down a $3bn (£2bn) acquisition offer from Facebook, according to the Wall Street Journal.