Published in IoT

HTC stuffs up VR

by on03 April 2017


Let's put adverts into it


HTC has worked out a way of totally stuffing up its VR product and consigning it to the dustbin of history.

Some genius in HTC thought that more people would buy its VR products if it jacked in advertising came up. Apparently, it has developed a "VR Ad Service". While that is intrusive and annoying enough because of the nature of AR advertising, the system actually knows when you are looking at the god-awful adverts.

"Ads that appear in immersive VR environments can not only provide more effective impressions, they can also track whether the users have viewed them or have turned away their gaze. Accordingly, the multiplied effect of effective impressions and verified viewings will bring you higher advertising revenue!" HTC explains.

This means that advertisers will only pay for ads after they have been viewed. But on the downside it means that the developers have a vested interest in making their adverts as intrusive as possible so they can tell advertisers that their advert was seen.

Some of the formats HTC is offering include loading scenes, 2D and 3D in-app placements, app recommendation banners, and big screen video.

This will be an opt-in ad service for developers. HTC notes that by opting in, "all of your free apps would be automatically put on the list which can be used to integrate VR Ads".

It is all based on the premise that gamers secretly like watching adverts because they want products. It is a premise invented by advertisers and marketing people whose grip on reality is dependent on how much cocaine they have taken. Most people playing a game are not thinking about shopping and if HTC and its ilk make advertising too much of a thing in VR then the technology will be ignored.

This is because, as HTC says, ads that are seen by users in a immersive VR environment have more impact.

HTC states: "Therefore, promotion of your applications would have much more effective impression, which not only arouses the attention of potential users and enhance brand image, but further attracts interested users directly to download your apps in the VR environment!"

The in-game advertising program applies to games hosted on Viveport, HTC's digital distribution platform.

Last modified on 03 April 2017
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