Anzu.io raises $6.5 million for programmatic in-game ad platform

AceGoober

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VentureBeat is reporting Anzu.io has raised $6.5 million for its 'programmatic in-game advertising technology'. Anzo.io states:

Anzu.io said:
"... to make sure the ads are displayed in a brand-safe and fraud-free environment."

I personally haven't an issue with in-game advertising as long as it is relevant to the game world.

Hypothetical example: If there are advertisements in Cyberpunk 2077, will I be able to see the product in various metropolitan stores (static or otherwise) and denizens using the advertised product throughout the city? Or will it be another one of those ads which has no relevancy to the time period of the game world itself?

My concerns are:

1. How will the game developers fit such ads into their game world without reducing and/or breaking immersion?

2. How will developers working in conjunction with Anzu.io prevent nefarious intentioned ads from infiltrating game's systems to siphon personal data?

Security is my biggest concern though implementing an ad which has no relevancy is also of concern since I like to have the fullest, immersive experience as possible (hence no fast travel in Fallout or Elder Scrolls games).

Edit: corrected company name (Anzu.io)
 
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It wouldn't stay immersive. Might start that way with some games but eventually it will be laziness that will show some mobile app game ad on a parchment outside the tavern in skyrim.
 
Web and location tracking wasn't good enough. We need MORE. So what if your games load and run slower? The ad publisher would like to prevent fraud and that's on you, the kettle
 
btw I am so tired of ads. You can't go 30 seconds in life without hearing or seeing some advertisement. It is going to get like ready player one, "we can fill up so much of a persons view with ads before we induce a seizure". Even if you go outside and disconnect, the god damn blimp will fly over with a giant billboard lol.
 
I'm ok with product placement, like what happens on TV shows. Thing is, this isn't what will happen.
It wouldn't stay immersive. Might start that way with some games but eventually it will be laziness that will show some mobile app game ad on a parchment outside the tavern in skyrim.
You gotta admit, that if tastefully done, this could be hilarious. Just imagine going up to a noticeboard outside of town, and one of the postings is a period/theme appropriate flyer directing you to your local tavern to enjoy an ice cold coca-cola. You go to said tavern, and order an ice cold coca-cola and they make some remark wondering what you are talking about, since they don't have any way of keeping things cold in that fantasy world!
 
I'm OK with ads that are incorporated into a game like a real-world situation: vending machines, soda pop cans and pizza boxes, billboards, TVs showing a commercial in a store window...much like the kind of things we'd see in a GTA type of game.

When executed correctly, it adds to the immersion, IMO.
 
I'm ok with product placement, like what happens on TV shows. Thing is, this isn't what will happen.

You gotta admit, that if tastefully done, this could be hilarious. Just imagine going up to a noticeboard outside of town, and one of the postings is a period/theme appropriate flyer directing you to your local tavern to enjoy an ice cold coca-cola. You go to said tavern, and order an ice cold coca-cola and they make some remark wondering what you are talking about, since they don't have any way of keeping things cold in that fantasy world!

This is what i always hoped for with ingame add . they they are built INTO the game instead of interrupting the game.

You sneak out a movie center in hitman. and all the poster are for new and upcomming real world movies.

make it part of the experience rather than a distraction/interuption
 
Can't wait.

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Might be ok IF the ads are fed into the game at the game server, vetted, then passed to the player. If this turns into another morass of ad script from random IP addresses with no accountability, think the current web ad environment, then NO.
 
The only game that ever had ads that never bothered me was burnout paradise. The ads were on billboards and for things like intel x58. Of course those were static ads, and the game would still be telling me to buy a chipset from 2008 :p

The game felt realistic and the ads were for things I actually cared about. I def would have clicked on one of those billboards if possible to drool over a system i couldn't possibly own while still finishing college.
 
Meanwhile, back in 1990...

Why do I feel like Pizza Hut all of a sudden? :D

That was legit, though, because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were known for eating pizza in the comics. Especially after the turtles went mainstream - in their self-published black-and-white days they drank beer.

This Anzu tech is more than product placement, though. Games like Madden NFL and Far Cry use a lot contemporary music, which can be expensive to license. Now imagine your game coming with canned synthetic music, but with a link so you can load up Spotify (50% off coupon if you're not a Spotify member!) to receive a game authorized soundtrack. Imagine DLC content that's tied to a coupon or code from a Pepsi product.

Another thing to think about is that Anzu isn't developing this as a functional tool for game companies to use. They're developing it as a capability that they can provide. They're copying Google and placing themselves in the center of the ad stream, connecting game companies to sponsors and advertisers. Because money.


P.S. Red Dead Redemption III: A Fistful of Nachos.
 
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Can't wait to see the news article tomorrow. EA and Activation battle over game enhancing ad platform, current bids have reached 500 million and the battle continues!
 
You can't go 30 seconds in life without hearing or seeing some advertisement.
are you watching tv or listening to radio all the time or something? I guess I'm lucky I experience about 5 ads a day, mostly driving to/from work and seeing them on sides of vans or truck...
 
are you watching tv or listening to radio all the time or something? I guess I'm lucky I experience about 5 ads a day, mostly driving to/from work and seeing them on sides of vans or truck...

Nope, but they show up on websites, emails, billboards, trucks, signs in yards, i listen to the radio on the drive, most of that is commercials. When I come home I tend to watch an episode with the wife, commercials there too. Open the mailbox, junk mail full of ads.

I really wish I could only experience 5 ads a day....
 
I guess a logo anywhere could be considered an ad... in which case almost all of us are walking/driving ads 24/7 (yes, in bed too)... only in the shower can you escape... oh wait, the labels on shampoos are ads too... ffs, nm, we are doomed :p

time to consider going full amish...
 
I mean c'mon, on the radio I heard a song based ad for toilet paper. "a shiny clean booty is a thing of beauty". At least the sex toy ads seemed to have cut back on the morning. I know I don't pay for air wave radio, but ads to music is 2:3 ratio which seems to be a lot to me. Same with webpages taking up a third of the screen with pop ups and subscribe boxes.

ads enable content but will also ruin it in the same stroke IMO.
 
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