Xbox One Is Not Designed With Advertising In Mind, Microsoft Says

[Andy Chalk]

Xbox One Is Not Designed With Advertising In Mind, Microsoft Says

Microsoft Director of Product Planning Albert Penello says the company has better things to do than turn the Xbox One Kinect into an interactive targeted advertising machine.

There was a bit of a stink earlier this year when the word went out that the Xbox One, powered by vastly improved Kinect technology, was designed "NUads [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125523-Xbox-One-Designed-With-Advertising-in-Mind]," a type of interactive advertising designed for the original Kinect that was first unveiled in 2011. And regardless of the specifics, nobody likes advertising, right?

But in response to questions about NUads on NeoGAF, Penello described them as "simply interactive advertising done on the platform," and said that concerns about Microsoft's plans for ads on the Xbox One are overblown. "What I think you're asking about is an interview done earlier in the year where someone was talking about how some of the new Xbox One Kinect features *could* be used in advertising - since we can see expressions, engagement, etc. and how that might be used to target advertising. This is the point that seems to draw some controversy," he wrote.

"First - nobody is working on that. We have a lot more interesting and pressing things to dedicate time towards. It was an interview done speculatively, and I'm not aware of any active work in this space," he continued. "Second - if something like that ever happened, you can be sure it wouldn't happen without the user having control over it. Period."

Penello noted that Microsoft could add some "cool features" if it enabled things like cloud-based facial recognition data storage but said that for "privacy reasons," that information never leaves the console; as well, the system stops the Skype video stream whenever the app isn't in focus, so it's impossible to have it going in the background, intentionally or otherwise.

"I'll say this - we take a lot of heat around stuff we've done and I can roll with it. Some of it is deserved," he wrote. "But preventing Kinect from being used inappropriately is something the team takes very seriously."

Source: NeoGAF [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=84471421&postcount=1590]


Permalink

 

[Ympulse]

Xbox One Is Not Designed With Advertising In Mind, Microsoft Says

Yeah, Bullshit.

You create a "ubiquitous" platform that everyone has and/or uses, and use it to sell advertising. TV, internet, Google, Public transport, etc etc etc. Their "All in one" machine is meant to be an advertising platform, fullstop. Else there wouldn't be 5-6 tiles dedicated to ads on the current xbox.

 

[dragongit]

This coming from the console, that if memory serves, might give achievements for watching commercials? Yea, I'm calling BS, MS.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

You plaster the dashboard with ad space, you use the Kinect 2 to spy on people so you know what to advertise to them, and then you say it's not built with ads in mind?! What the... just what?

 

[Slash2x]

In another startling announcement Micro$oft says they really do not care about money at all. Oh wait this is the real world, never mind.

I am thinking SteamOs and PS4 are going to bury this turd rather quickly.

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

I'm sure the 360 wasn't built with ads in mind either but that doesn't stop my tv from looking like a 1990s geocities website every time I turn it on.

 

[sid]

Equivalent scenario, three 6 foot tall bodybuilders run up to you in a dark alley, the three of them surround you. Suddenly they grab each other's hands to form a circle around you and start spinning uncontrollably while chanting "we aren't mugging you". They walk away nonchalantly and you realize they haven't, after all, mugged you

Do you trust the 3 men?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

My 360 home screen is already covered in ads, there's no way their 180 design didn't have that in mind. I dunno why he would even make a public statement to the contrary.

 

[CriticalMiss]

And next they will say that the Xbone is not designed with TV in mind and everything they said about TV was just speculative. Although I do fully believe that MS have better things to do than turn the Kinect into an advertising tool, they have their hands full trying to reduce the impact of the inevitable trainwreck that the Xbone launch will be.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

How does the kinect 2 spy on you? Whats it gonna do, scan your face then sends you adverts for spot cream. lol.

Adverts on consoles dont bother me, they are in their own little area out the way, i just ignore them. People moaned about adverts on the 360 dashboard and i was never on the dashboard for more than 5 seconds. Its not like they will have adverts popping up mid game that pause your game until you close them.

Now, if your going to moan about adverts that are annoying, then unskippable trailers on dvds are so much worse in comparison.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

It was an interview done speculatively

What utter balls.

The interview wasn't speculative. "With advertising in mind" isn't a summary or a suggestion, it's a direct quote from a Microsoft 'Xbox Live Advertising Developer' about what the Xbox Live UI would be.

It's not speculative if he's telling you the exact ethos behind the thing he is designing right at that point, and it cannot be retroactively changed because the Xbox Live UI has already been created and it was done so with that purpose.

At most you can claim to have backtracked once again on a previous policy, but you cannot claim that it somehow didn't happen that way when we have direct confirmation from an employee about what his focus was at the time he was designing it.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

The first thing I see when my 360 is fully booted up is an ad. If the Xbone is not designed for advertising, then that is not the best precedent.

Spoiler: What do you think, Mr. Popo?

Yes, yes indeed.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

And next they will say that the Xbone is not designed with TV in mind and everything they said about TV was just speculative. Although I do fully believe that MS have better things to do than turn the Kinect into an advertising tool, they have their hands full trying to reduce the impact of the inevitable trainwreck that the Xbone launch will be.

From what i gather, the TV aspect is you plugging your cable box into your XB1 and using that to control it. Although it will still have certain specific channels on XB1 like that sport one. But then i would only use the console to play games anyway so for me its a non issue. Like people moan that they add Facebook to the 360 - just dont use it.

But as we know from all gamers. They all do a 180 on their opinions. XB1 will sell loads of consoles. Same as L4D2 sold loads of games, though everyone moaned and declared a boycott. At the moment i own an 360. But neither PS4 or XB1 interest me at the moment, there is no real wow factor - just seems more of the same with nicer graphics. So will wait till more interesting games get released in a year or two. Though may get a PS3 instead due to the cheap back catalog.

 

[Erttheking]

Really? I would like to believe you, but the thing is you have directly contradicted yourself here.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125523-Xbox-One-Designed-With-Advertising-in-Mind

 

[rofltehcat]

Uhm... I don't believe them and to be honest I don't know what is worse: Having a (expensive) machine designed to expose us to ads whenever possible? Or having a (expensive) machine with lots of ads tacked on in inconvenient places?

 

[CriticalMiss]

But as we know from all gamers. They all do a 180 on their opinions. XB1 will sell loads of consoles. Same as L4D2 sold loads of games, though everyone moaned and declared a boycott.

I'm not sure the two are really all that equivalent. A console is much more expensive than a single game so a lot of people who are 'boycotting' the Xbone really won't get one, obviously a few people will buy one regardless of their grumbling but certainly not as many as those who get the games they are boycotting.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

But as we know from all gamers. They all do a 180 on their opinions. XB1 will sell loads of consoles. Same as L4D2 sold loads of games, though everyone moaned and declared a boycott.

I'm not sure the two are really all that equivalent. A console is much more expensive than a single game so a lot of people who are 'boycotting' the Xbone really won't get one, obviously a few people will buy one regardless of their grumbling but certainly not as many as those who get the games they are boycotting.

Or the PS3, people moaning its expensive and they didnt want to pay extra just because it has a blueray drive. Gamers grumble, they moaned when MS had DRM and non 2nd hand sales, then they still moan that MS reversed it. They will moan regardless (an i admit i moaned about the XB1 when it was unveiled as well) but still people will buy one at some point if it has the games they want to play. An those that boycott may just wait till price decreases or until we get those unboxing and playing vids where we will see first hand whether its a good console or not.

But then i guess a lot of people are more effected by the XB1 issues than i am. Though even i wont get a next gen console as neither of them interest me right now.

 

[synobal]

There is a reason people are already calling it the AdBox.