The Ugly, Profitable Details About Xbox Live Advertising

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The Ugly, Profitable Details About Xbox Live Advertising

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 13, 2012 @08:28AM from the nowhere-is-safe dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In an editorial at Penny Arcade, Ben Kuchera writes about how Microsoft's subscription-based Xbox Live platform has become an advertising cash cow — to the detriment of users who already pay for the service. Quoting: 'People who don't play video games would be forgiven if they turned on an Xbox 360 and didn't realize it was a device used to primarily play games. The first screen you see on the Xbox 360 Dashboard is often a mixture of ads for all sorts of goods and services, and many times games are in the minority of ad slots. The latest redesign increased the ad space that can be sold to advertisers, and that in turn increased this problem. Let's be clear, it is a problem. Game discovery is terrible in the current design of Xbox Live, and the usability of a system that used to be about games is suffering in order for Microsoft to make money on ads. Sadly, this issue isn't going away: Ad sales simply bring in too much money to ignore, and revenue is growing. ... I contacted Microsoft and asked how much advertising revenue impacted the profitability of the Xbox 360. "We don't share this information publicly but we can tell you that, since 2010, the advertising business has grown 142%," I was told.'"

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So, basically ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-13 08:36 · Score: 4, Insightful

With Xbox Live you pay to receive ads. With PSN, you don't pay a dime and still get online gaming.
While I'm acting smug as a PS3 owner, who doesn't have to put up with Microsoft's bullshit, I have to wonder just how much longer Sony's offering will last.
1. Re:So, basically ... by masternerdguy · 2012-07-13 08:40 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  You are absolutely right my friend. I find it amazing that people will pay money to receive ads. This is why we need a non profit FOSS console that doesn't do this crap.
  
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  To offset political mods, replace Flamebait with Insightful.
2. Re:So, basically ... by hbean · 2012-07-13 08:48 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Lots of people pay for cable, and there's a ton of ads on it. Just saying.
  
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  "Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
3. Re:So, basically ... by Rijnzael · 2012-07-13 08:52 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I doubt Sony is going to see what Microsoft is doing as anything other than a precedent and road map for future endeavors. The only reason PSN is free is because they wanted to overcome the shocking price of the initial PS3 models and wanted to take a chunk out of Xbox Live's market share. Xbox Live is profitable, PSN is not. If PSN ever reaches comfortable profitability, you can bet they'll be doing exactly what Microsoft is. They're just as much about screwing the customer as any other company (anti-piracy rootkits anyone?).
4. Re:So, basically ... by stms · 2012-07-13 13:13 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I'm surprised no one else has posted this yet. There's been a pretty big recent success with a FOSS console on kickstarter with the Ouya Console. Why was that modded funny it would be awesome if there was a successful FOSS console I certainly hope the Ouya is a success.
Filter it. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-13 08:40 · Score: 5, Informative

I was really annoyed with this when they first updated the console so the home screen was overrun with ads. I simply blocked their ad sub domain on my router. Problem solved.
1. Re:Filter it. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-13 09:29 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  rad.msn.com
  msnvidweb.vo.msecnd.net
2. Re:Filter it. by Dahamma · 2012-07-13 09:32 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  What makes it even more annoying is that there were *2* primary reasons for the Xbox Dash redesign:
  1) make it 100% Kinect-accessible
  2) promote content more (much of it paid) and increase advertising space
  So, they changed the fairly decent previous Xbox Dashboard to something designed around products I don't want to see and a UI navigation mechanism I don't want to use. For the vast majority of users out there who just want to use a controller to play a game or watch a movie, it's a major step backwards in usability.
What exactly is suffering? by jeffy210 · 2012-07-13 08:41 · Score: 3, Insightful

So what is exactly is suffering for gaming? Has the hardware been gimped? Can you not just pop a game in and play it? The XBox is being slotted as a media platform, not just a gaming platform and it seems to be doing that rather well, just look at the sales. Just because it's not the uber-hardcore gaming machine you're expecting does not make it bad. If you really want that go build a PC. But as long as it plays games and you still have access to game content, all while providing additional entertainment and media options, I fail to see the issue.
To be honest, I use mine mainly for Netflix and other media related options. Occasionally I do play a game, so it fits perfectly for me. It's no longer just a "gaming console".

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"And may your days be long upon the earth."
1. Re:What exactly is suffering? by Baloroth · 2012-07-13 09:14 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Well, besides the fact that it can interfere with your ability to find actual content (as others have pointed out), it's also the "frog in boiling water" problem. While it may not interfere with your ability to do what you want now, I have no doubt MS is looking at the possibility of doing things like playing unskippable ads before you can play DVDs or games, or adding ads into games (or even movies) on the fly. Anything they can do to make even more money. And so long as people have a good deal already invested in the platform (in the form of locked-in games and whatnot), people won't switch away. Whatever MS can get away with, they will do, eventually.
  
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  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
2. Re:What exactly is suffering? by thetoadwarrior · 2012-07-13 09:27 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Anyone with half a brain knew the 360 was another attempt at a set-top box to dominate the living room but you can't blame people for being upset when MS specfically aimed the system at "core" gamers and have now turned it into something to appeal to their mothers because it turns out those gamers aren't profitable enough in their eyes.
  br / Also it's pretty fucking poor as a media machine. A desktop serves that job better. For starters the xbox is never going to have to space to hold all my ripped music and DVDs. I own easily at least 500 DVDs and some blu-rays. I need some serious space for that. Not some toy whose sole purpose is to drain my wallet.
3. Re:What exactly is suffering? by scot4875 · 2012-07-13 09:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Big fuckin' deal. I've had an HD TV for nearly 10 years; HD is a nice bonus, but it doesn't make a bad movie good, and the lack of it doesn't make a good game bad.
  --Jeremy
  
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  Jesus was a liberal
4. Re:What exactly is suffering? by RightSaidFred99 · 2012-07-13 10:41 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Yes we will get off your lawn grandpa.
For Xbox 360 users ... by LordNimon · 2012-07-13 08:42 · Score: 4, Informative

Here's a method you can use to block some of those ads:
http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/n5831/how_to_block_xbox_dashboard_ads/
It doesn't block all of them, but it does block most of the animated, generic ads that aren't related to gaming.

--
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
Dashboard Devolution by decipher_saint · 2012-07-13 08:47 · Score: 4, Interesting

I didn't own an original XBox, so I don't have a frame of reference but I've noticed that since I bought my 360 in 2008 most updates to the Dashboard have been working hard at making it more difficult to find my games or my home media.
In fact, with the latest batches of updates (Metro-like?) I've found it very difficult to get to games I want to play in my library, to the point now that I forego the GUI and go straight to the "quick play" option (which is basically just an alphabetically sorted list). And browsing my home network has been completely removed in lieu of streaming (yuck, no thanks).
I think Microsoft could learn a thing or two from Valve, Steam is pretty easy to use but is also a ad delivery system, I can find everything rather easily in Steam and I find it a lot less annoying than the 360 Dashboard, also Steam has sales for games that don't suck, and that makes me want to spend money but hey, that's just my opinion...

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crazy dynamite monkey
Re:Overstated by h4rr4r · 2012-07-13 09:04 · Score: 3, Insightful

That does not matter. I will not pay to receive ads. If there are ads on the system the games had better be free.
Same reason why I will never have cable, and would cancel netflix in an instant if they ever showed a single advertisement on streaming.
The screen space would be better used by being blank.
Cable TV anyone? by NalosLayor · 2012-07-13 09:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

Not to point out the rotting dead fish in the middle of the room, but this is exactly what happened with cable TV, and yet there is no real outrage on that front any more. I'm not saying it's the right thing...or even "acceptable" but customers seem to never balk at ads, and content streamers never turn down a revenue stream. It feels almost inevitable.
Having purchased a 360 less than a month ago... by Anubis+IV · 2012-07-13 09:10 · Score: 3, Interesting

I have to say that the 360 has been one disappointment after another when it comes to the console itself. The games are fine, as is the media selection, but after coming from a PS3 and Wii, the 360 doesn't even feel like it's designed for people interested in gaming or media consumption at all, which came as an utter shock to me, since everyone I know seems to enjoy theirs for those activities (and Sony isn't exactly known for quality products these days either). There's so much cruft and unnecessary nonsense between you and whatever you want to do on the 360 that it's extremely exasperating to do trivial tasks that are incredibly simple on the PS3. For instance, the only way I'm aware of to simply watch a video that's been downloaded to the local hard drive is to:
1) Navigate to the Videos tab
2) Select the option to view my video apps
3) Launch one of the video apps, then wait for it to load
4) Once it loads, navigate to my local videos
5) Find the one I want then play it
(I'm eager to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable, since I would love to know an easier way to do something so simple)
And several of those steps involve navigating past tabs filled with image and video ads mixed in with actual content in a Metro-ish UI style. In contrast, on the PS3:
1) Go to the Videos tab
2) Find the one I want then play it
And the only ad that you can't disable is some text scrolling in the top right corner (and it's oftentimes actually useful information related to sales or game launches in the PSN Store).
At least Microsoft had the good sense to not have the audio enabled automatically on the video ads that are constantly showing in the dashboard. Even so, it's rather jarring when you accidentally scroll over one of them and suddenly get blaring sound as they respond to the controller's focus on them. I don't know what the numbers are, but, at least to me, it feels like the majority of the UI elements in the dashboard are actually ads of some form, without only a few useful things present. Unfortunately, since they've mixed them all together, it's rather difficult to discern at a glance sometimes.
And don't get me started on the fact that even though I can watch Netflix on my iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Mac, Windows box, PS3, and Wii without having to pay anything extra, I have to be a Microsoft LIVE Gold subscriber if I want to watch it on my 360.
Product placement by tepples · 2012-07-13 09:36 · Score: 4, Funny

Same reason why I will never have cable, and would cancel netflix in an instant if they ever showed a single advertisement on streaming.
Add The Wizard (1989) to your queue. Watch it. Realized you just watched a 90 minute infomercial for Virtual Console on Wii. Cancel Netflix.
Re:Not new, not special by CanHasDIY · 2012-07-13 10:06 · Score: 5, Insightful

There are ads that load in when you connect to PSN. However, most of those ads are for games/videos you can download from PSN.
Same thing goes for Xbox Live. I'm an XBL user and I didn't really notice the change that much, because it's no different than what Google is doing with Android Market and what Apple does with its iOS and Mac App Stores.
It's completely different.

Apple and Google relegate their advertising to their app stores - you know, a special place specifically designed for you to go and buy stuff? It would be the same thing, if every time you turned on your Android or iDevice, you were smacked upside the head with ad after ad, but that's not the case.

Also worth noting, Apple and Google don't charge you for the privilege.

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An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:Not new, not special by VGPowerlord · 2012-07-13 15:35 · Score: 3, Informative

The thing is, the default setting if you have a disc (XBL gold or not) is for that disc to play.

I have a disc in my 360 now and I never changed the default settings for game discs.
Lets see what happens when I turn it on.
Xbox 360 logo... Choose a profile screen... signing into Xbox Live...
OK, I was deposited at the Main Menu's "home" tab with 7 boxes. They are:
1. Upper-left corner: Small box, Alan Wake (the disc currently in the console)
2. Lower-left corner: Small box, Quickplay (for accessing my XBLA games)
3. Left-center: Large box the switches ads every 2 seconds between "Comic Con is On", "Crackle's The Unknown" (tv series?), "Call of Duty: Black Ops II", "Quantum Conundrum", and "Xbox Live Good, Better, Gold"
4. Right-center-upper: Small box, ad for MLB & More
5. Right-center-lower: Small box, ad for Arcade Sale
6. Upper-right corner: Small box, ad for Kinect
7. Lower-right corner: Small box, ad for Netflix
My empirical evidence says you're wrong.
Oh, and if you're referring to what happens when you put a disc in, the main menu has likely already loaded and you've already seen the ads.

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GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011