Microsoft Experiments With Ad Views For Access To Xbox Game Pass (windowscentral.com) 20
During a Wells Fargo summit last month, Microsoft Gaming CFO Tim Stuart suggested Xbox is seeking to bring Xbox Game Pass to competing platforms, such as PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. One of the scenarios for Xbox Game Pass expansion may include offering access in exchange for viewing advertisements. Windows Central reports: "For models like Africa, or India, Southeast Asia, maybe places that aren't console-first, you can say, 'hey, do you want to watch 30 seconds of an ad and then get two hours of game streaming?'," Stuart continued. "Africa is, you know, 50% of the population is 23 years old or younger with a growing disposable income base, all with cell phones and mobile devices, not a lot of high-end disposable income, generally-speaking. So we can go in with our own business models and say -- there's millions of gamers we would never have been able to address, and now we can go in with our business models."
Microsoft has previously surveyed Xbox users on the Xbox Insider Program and via other avenues about the possibility of offering Xbox Game Pass time in exchange for viewing advertisements. And recently, security researcher Title_OS shared some code snippets from the Xbox OS that described systems that would provide access to Xbox Game Pass via on an "Earned Time" basis, complete in 15-minute blocks.
Microsoft has previously surveyed Xbox users on the Xbox Insider Program and via other avenues about the possibility of offering Xbox Game Pass time in exchange for viewing advertisements. And recently, security researcher Title_OS shared some code snippets from the Xbox OS that described systems that would provide access to Xbox Game Pass via on an "Earned Time" basis, complete in 15-minute blocks.
Next up: Predatory ads targeting youth on Xbox (Score:3)
It won't be surprising to see ads for cigarettes, thinly veiled porn, escort recruitment, consumer loans, questionable get rich quick schemes, etc, etc, coming to the Xbox ad platform. What else could make money out of youths who cannot afford an XBox game pass?
Advertising is the scourge of modern civilization, it creates no value and only divert people's spending from one place to another even when the ad is for legitimate product. Whatever ads touched stinks.
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ads for cigarettes
What kind of third world country do you live in?
As if the new American standard of advertising for Big Pharma is so much more morally sound? First world problems, still smell.
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ads for cigarettes
What kind of third world country do you live in?
Is vaping much better?
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You're objecting to ads for cigarettes? The base objection here is advertising to children. Studies have shown they can't differentiate between programming and advertising (choice of words intentional) at early but still game-playing ages.
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It won't be surprising to see ads for cigarettes, thinly veiled porn, escort recruitment, consumer loans, questionable get rich quick schemes, etc, etc, coming to the Xbox ad platform. What else could make money out of youths who cannot afford an XBox game pass?
Advertising is the scourge of modern civilization, it creates no value and only divert people's spending from one place to another even when the ad is for legitimate product. Whatever ads touched stinks.
Is that permitted in the US, most countries I know would utterly flay Microsoft alive for advertising cigarettes on a platform that can be accessed by Children. In fact in the UK cigarette advertising is banned completely. They cant even sponsor a sporting team any more.
You're right that advertising is the scourge of modern civilisation, which is why I'm glad my country controls it. If you're deliberately deceptive in advertising you get fined.
This is also why I never joined any game streaming/rental
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Not all advertising is bad.
Marketing is required simply to inform people that something new exists. Without it, no one knows about anything new. Everything would always just be a non-stop march to nowhere, with zero progress.
There have been many products and inventions that could have moved society forward, that failed - or got delayed (sometimes by decades) - simply because of poor marketing.
Marketing will make or break a company. You can have the best product in the world, but if you don't know how to mar
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Marketing is required simply to inform people that something new exists.
Bullshit! Every search engine has a shopping button, enter some words, get endless ads for shit. Anywhere else advertising should just die, most people on earth have a web browser with SEARCH in their pocket. Why the fuck do ads exist any where else? If you can't find new products (only while shopping the internet) you are too stupid to live.
Ads ? On the Internet ? No way. (Score:2, Insightful)
Use an Adblocker.
If you see ads on Xbox AND can't install adblocker on Xbox, THEN don't use Xbox.
Re:Ads ? On the Internet ? No way. (Score:4)
A PiHole or similar setup might be able to block some of it. I primarily use PC so I don't usually have these problems, though. The worst I get is the Curseforge client that I use to update WoW addons has its own internal browser it uses to display ads; there's no easy way to block this without something like a PiHole or without hacking the client (not really worth the hassle). There are other clients that do this, but it's not even really worth the hassle to switch when I use it like once a week for 30 seconds.
Do you "want" to watch 30 seconds of ads? (Score:3)
'hey, do you want to watch 30 seconds of an ad and then get two hours of game streaming?',
No: I just want the two hours of game streaming. But I'll run your stupid ad and go for a piss while it runs if that's what it takes.
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Install some program that "watches" the ad for you and piss on your own time.
there is ONE issue they haven't thought of... (Score:2)
there is NO way STREAMING gaming is a thing in africa. There is not enough bandwidth on the continent for this.
these people need to get out of their redmond offices...
The advertisers get screwed (Score:3)
This may seem counterintuitive, but the advertisers get screwed with this sort of thing. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft will look for any spot available to cram ads, calling it their extended network, and then advertisers get stuck with these low quality spots mixed in with ones of actual value. The targeting they love to boast about is a black box designed to milk as much out of advertisers as possible. Because the majority of advertising is controlled by these three companies, the advertisers have little choice but to play ball.
I know, it is considered poor form to sympathize with the advertisers, but in reality they do not want annoying and ineffective ads. The platforms just want anything to boost impression and click statistics. Most advertisers are being duped by these companies, who have ironically used privacy as the excuse to put a shroud over their services that prevents their customers from realizing how much they are getting screwed.
30 seconds for 2 hours? (Score:1)
It will inevitably be more like, 5 minutes for 30 minutes, plus eyeball tracking and maybe asking you reCaptcha like questions to ensure you're paying attention.