Microsoft Is Building An Ad Program That Will Let Brands Advertise In Xbox Games (businessinsider.com) 19
Microsoft wants to let advertisers place ads inside free-to-play Xbox games. According to Insider, the company "is currently identifying adtech companies who can create the in-game inventory and work with ad agencies to place the ads." From the report: This new program will boost Xbox's limited ad inventory by adding more games that brands can advertise in and by allowing more developers to sell ad space. Those sources said those ads would show up as, for instance, digitally rendered billboards in a car racing game. Insider was unable to learn if Xbox will also offer other types of in-game ad units, like avatar skins or video ads that play in gaming lobbies. Insider was also unable to determine if Microsoft has pitched the Xbox offering to advertisers yet. Insider's sources expect this capability to be live by the third quarter.
The two sources said the tech giant did not seem intent on taking a cut of ad revenue, and that it seemed more interested in building out the Xbox ad network. Ad revenue will be shared by the game developer and the adtech company that places the ad, those sources believe. One of the sources speculated Microsoft isn't currently interested in collecting a cut of ad revenue because it wants to provide more money-making opportunities to developers who make free-to-play games.
Microsoft started talks to build an Xbox in-game ad network around 2018 or 2019, but that process accelerated thanks to the 2020 release of the latest Xbox, and the boom in free-to-play titles, the two sources said. Microsoft is worried inserting ads into Xbox games could irritate people who don't expect to see ads when playing on consoles, so it's moving cautiously and intends to create a "private marketplace," where only select brands can insert ads into games in a way that doesn't disrupt the gameplay experience, the two sources said. They also said Microsoft is concerned about securing its customers' data, so other companies can't use it.
The two sources said the tech giant did not seem intent on taking a cut of ad revenue, and that it seemed more interested in building out the Xbox ad network. Ad revenue will be shared by the game developer and the adtech company that places the ad, those sources believe. One of the sources speculated Microsoft isn't currently interested in collecting a cut of ad revenue because it wants to provide more money-making opportunities to developers who make free-to-play games.
Microsoft started talks to build an Xbox in-game ad network around 2018 or 2019, but that process accelerated thanks to the 2020 release of the latest Xbox, and the boom in free-to-play titles, the two sources said. Microsoft is worried inserting ads into Xbox games could irritate people who don't expect to see ads when playing on consoles, so it's moving cautiously and intends to create a "private marketplace," where only select brands can insert ads into games in a way that doesn't disrupt the gameplay experience, the two sources said. They also said Microsoft is concerned about securing its customers' data, so other companies can't use it.
Honestly, this could work in racing games (Score:5, Insightful)
Racing games like F1 2021 and Forza Horizon 5 already have billboards all over the place. If they had ads for actual products on those billboards, it would actually add a bit to the realism.
And, hey... if you don't like the company on the billboard? Run it over! In Forza, you get bonus points for that!
Re: (Score:2)
HAHAHA, completely different type of ad. They're talking about tracking ads. Like on websites. Ones that get in your face. Ones that geo-locate. Ones that profile. Ones that link to your phone. Ones that follow you everywhere.
Re: (Score:2)
Racing games like F1 2021 and Forza Horizon 5 already have billboards all over the place. If they had ads for actual products on those billboards, it would actually add a bit to the realism.
I'd be surprised if they didn't already sell that space.
But that's not what they are talking about. This is ad industry of the 90s. Today, advertisement to you is sold in real-time on a kind of exchange where your personal data is up for sale and bots will haggle within a few microseconds about who gets to show you an ad right now under the given circumstances (time of day, calendar date, what you just did, etc. - like Joe just stood up (according to his Android sleep pattern detection) and he's interested
Racing games already had sponsors (Score:2)
Now that the web is ceasing to become a viable
Re: Honestly, this could work in racing games (Score:2)
Hypothetically, If I owned an XBox, (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hypothetically, If I owned an XBox, (Score:4, Informative)
Why would I ever want to see an ad? Has Microsoft explained this, and if so, what was their answer?
Oh that's easy. Because Microsoft gets paid when you do.
In fact, they'll probably just go ahead and put ads in all the games within a very short period of time, if this works out for them.
Don't sports games do this already? (Score:3)
I may be mistaken, but don't they do this in sports games like Madden and NHL games? If not, it would be really easy to have banners of say, coke or pepsi. It would actually look authentic even, since I'm pretty sure theses companies advertise in the stadiums.
Free to pla^H^H^H be pwned (Score:1)
Microsoft = IOI (Score:2)
Someone at Microsoft watched that scene from Ready Player One where the evil corporate stuffed suit was talking about monetizing The Oasis and totally missed the point.
So many words! (Score:3)
Someone at Microsoft watched that scene from Ready Player One where the evil corporate stuffed suit was talking about monetizing The Oasis and totally missed the point.
I think you could be more concise:
Please drink a verification can (Score:2)
4chan predicted the future. https://imgur.com/dgGvgKF [imgur.com]
Re: Please drink a verification can (Score:1)
I like this (Score:2)
I'll get a variety of ads rather than the same three ads all over a game.
That is of course if they do it that way and keep enough creative control on the ads that they fit the world.
I would not want all the same as still, but it's a contemporary ad in a future world.
...thereby making them free with ads, not free (Score:3)
Good for the competition (Score:2)
So the game will cost less ... right? (Score:2)
Ha! That was a joke. Ads paying for free games makes sense. Here it feels like paying for ads. But whatever...