"Sorry for All the Ads," Says Former Microsoft Program Manager

[Esmeralda Portillo]

"Sorry for All the Ads," Says Former Microsoft Program Manager

Ex-Microsoft employee apologizes for creating the initiative to have ads on the Microsoft dashboard.

"If you hate seeing advertisements when you boot up your Xbox, let me apologize in advance," states Allen Murray, the ex-Microsoft program manager [https://twitter.com/allenmmurray], "I am one of the people--if not THE person--responsible for ads on the Xbox."

In a blog post addressed to the Xbox nation [http://blog.theilluminatedsquid.com/post/94215585076/10-years-in-games-sorry-for-all-the-ads], Murray explains how he came to work for Microsoft from Amazon, and how he had to push to get ads on Microsoft's interface in the first place.

When Murray joined Xbox's team in 2004, he worked on platform software and realized he could "quickly make an impact, for better or worse." While learning about the new projects Microsoft was working on, one of which was the Xbox Live Arcade, Murray realized how difficult it was for users to find new game content. Hexic, for instance, was a puzzle game you can only play on the Xbox 360 at the time and was at risk of being buried because there was no way to advertise it on the dashboard--and Murray previously worked with the game's developer Jason Keimig so he had a personal attachment to the cause.

Murray then went to Larry Hyrb, a.k.a. Major Nelson [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/major%20nelson], with the issue. Hyrb supported the initiative and with his help Murray was able to bring the case to his boss.

"So, as you can see we have all of these great games but no way for players to easily find them. So I'm proposing that we display banner ads on the dashboard that link directly to the download pages of the games so that..."

"Wait, banner ads? Like on websites?"

"Sort of, but these aren't like ads for Mt. Dew or anything, these are just..."

"No way."

"What?"

"Gamers are gonna hate ads. No way."

"How will they know they can download Zuma on the day it launches?"

"..."

"Is that a yes?"

"No."

Microsoft was still uneasy with the notion, and Murray speculates it was due to his terminology of "advertising" and "banner ads." In any case, Hyrb was able to push the project forward and the "Banner Of The Day (BOTD)" system was implemented. Flash-forward ten years and, "Nowadays the Xbox One UI is nearly all 'ads' [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121408-Microsoft-Increasing-Investment-in-Xbox-Live-Ads]... So it's nice to see that the idea caught on and if you hate the Mt. Dew ads, I am truly sorry. "

Murray mentions his next project at Xbox was designing the 360's parental controls. He apologizes for that as well.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/hate-xbox-dashboard-ads-the-man-responsible-says-h/1100-6421775/]

Permalink

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so despite your apology I still wish the best of luck in surviving there Mr Murray.

 

[Paragon Fury]

So you're the man responsible for the downfall of one of the best console interfaces (The Original Xbox 360 Blade System) for one of the absolute worst (the current Xbox 360 and Xbox One dashboards)?

There is a special spot in hell for you sir.

 

[Callate]

...Is he one of the ones who was suggesting the built-in Kinect could be used to track users' gaze for commercial purposes?

If so, I'm not sure any apology would cut it.

 

[The Pink Pansy]

Now let's be fair, he merely instigated the use of adds, he wasn't necessarily responsible for The Billboard That The Xbox UI Became.

 

[vallorn]

First the guy who created pop up ads apologizes and now this? Are people finally waking up to how oppressive Ads are on some sites?

 

[synobal]

What he should of done is "what if we have a spot on the homepage where we suggest new games and current popular games to users we could even base it on their game history."

Its cool though I've never been suckered into paying for an xbox much less xbox live.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Does this mean they will be getting rid of the ads? If not, then it's about as thoughtful as someone apologizing to you while he is stabbing you.

 

[mysecondlife]

How kind of you to release your full name Mr. Allen Murray.

UNLEASH THE INTERNET FURY!

 

[Elijin]

Maybe we get a different experience down under due to our limited services being it isnt buried under random product ads, but the ads are always games and dlc....which his original reasoning is right. I do want to see an easy to find announcement of major new content.

 

[sid]

How kind of you to release your full name Mr. Allen Murray.

UNLEASH THE INTERNET FURY!

Dude, the introduction of ads itself was punishment enough for him. The fact that he's apologizing in the first place shows how much he regrets what he did. The fact that he suggested it as a solution to a logical problem shows that he's far from the worst person involved in the xbone's UI too. What could you possibly accomplish here from requesting an internet mob?

 

[Sarge034]

So all I got from this is anything this man works on goes to shit... But anyways, I couldn't give less of a shit about all these "apologies' coming out because they aren't fixing the problems they created.

 

[Kieve]

Dear Mr. Murray,
Create an ad-blocker for the XBox dashboard. Then all will be forgiven.
Until then, rot in the deepest corners of hell.
Sincerely, EVERYONE.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Maybe we get a different experience down under due to our limited services being it isnt buried under random product ads, but the ads are always games and dlc....which his original reasoning is right. I do want to see an easy to find announcement of major new content.

In my experience with the Xbox 360 (which was quite extensive) I've never seen anything along the lines of invasive advertisements. The important stuff was always first and foremost. Hell, you just had to throw in the disc and push but one button to play. You didn't have to sift through ads to get the content you wanted. Yeah, there were tiles for games/events/DLC, but they weren't in your face about it. I really don't see how different it is from Steam starting on the Store page by default (yes, I know you can set your favorite page, but I actually like seeing what's new and on sale right when I start Steam).

 

[FalloutJack]

First the guy who created pop up ads apologizes and now this? Are people finally waking up to how oppressive Ads are on some sites?

The first guy, yes. The second guy, maybe.

OT: Of course, if it's genuine, it doesn't actually effect me, being not of the X-Box persuasion.

 

[mysecondlife]

How kind of you to release your full name Mr. Allen Murray.

UNLEASH THE INTERNET FURY!

Dude, the introduction of ads itself was punishment enough for him. The fact that he's apologizing in the first place shows how much he regrets what he did. The fact that he suggested it as a solution to a logical problem shows that he's far from the worst person involved in the xbone's UI too. What could you possibly accomplish here from requesting an internet mob?

I was being disingenuous. Besides, if you wanted a internet mob, escapist would not be a best way to start it.

 

[Nikolaz72]

*Tosses ads atop of all the other reasons -not- to choose Xbox one*

I'm waiting for a time when people will just return their consoles and switch to PS4 if they aren't going to be getting a PC. I don't see much sense in anything else.

 

[loa]

Sounds like he suggested "ads" in the sense of steam notifying you of steam sales. On steam.
Now who is the dipshit who turned that into toyota ads?

I also like how this was the solution to arcade being hard to navigate and now it's even harder to do so.

 

[Abomination]

Sounds like he suggested "ads" in the sense of steam notifying you of steam sales. On steam.
Now who is the dipshit who turned that into toyota ads?

I think this is the crux of the issue. We're essentially talking about the person who invented a useful device, such as a hammer, but someone took the idea and turned it into a weapon.

Ads for services that are exclusive to the service you are using are 100% a-okay by my books. But ads for products outside the service you are paying for being displayed on the service you are paying for is a 100% no no.

 

[Alexander Kirby]

Does this mean they will be getting rid of the ads? If not, then it's about as thoughtful as someone apologizing to you while he is stabbing you.

Well it says Ex-Microsoft employee, so unfortunately he wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if he wanted to. Especially now Microsoft have made it clear they're not afraid of alienating gamers if they think they can rake in a bit more cash.