Microsoft patent eyes ads in streaming online games
- Reference: 1671517808
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/12/20/microsoft_patent_ads_games/
- Source link:
In a [1]patent filed earlier this year, Microsoft engineers envision an "unintrusive" method for placing personalized ads and other content that can be seen by gamers while they're playing a cloud-based or internet-connected game.
The patent notes the growing popularity of streaming games played on a variety of systems – such as a laptop or cell phone – but that "do not presently provide personalization options that would provide a richer gaming experience."
[2]
Microsoft therefore suggests that "A method and system for providing users with immersive, personalized content through the online or cloud-based gaming platform is desired."
[3]
[4]
Essentially the message is, games are fun, but games with ads embedded in them would be more fun.
[5]130,000 UK businesses sue Google over £13.6B in lost ad revenues
[6]Facebook files challenge to UK Giphy buyout ban by complaining CMA was 'unfair' and 'irrational'
[7]Which? survey finds people would actually pay the online giants not to take their data
[8]Meta faces lawsuit to stop 'surveillance advertising'
The patent describes an overlay technology that could determine when a particular person is playing a streaming game and determining a time within the game when the action has ebbed and the user is "below a threshold interaction count."
During that time, the technology would display the content – of favorite sports teams or brands, for example – on the screen via an overlay video stream that is distinct from the game playing stream and presented on the screen in real time for a least a portion of the low-action intervals.
The time for displaying the ad would be determined by reviewing a database of the user's history playing a game and recordings of the games played, then identifying and aggregating the user's past interactions with the game, to determine when the interactions are below that threshold count. Deciding where to place the ads will employ similar techniques, including finding locations within the game's environment that are continuously visible.
[9]
According to drawings accompanying the patent, those locations could include a display behind the goal of a soccer (football) game, on a billboard by a highway, and on the clothes of a game avatar sporting product name, logo, or other information.
The content is selected from personalization modules, or from a library of ads that come from "content providers" including Microsoft customers. The content selection module also gets input via signals from the game being played. The ad selection module gets data from both the personalization and ad collection modules and can include images, stock photos, and the like. Personalized ads can be chosen based on the gamer's profile and content that dovetails with the game.
"For example, a user/gamer is playing a car racing game," Microsoft writes in the patent. "The personalization module 122 may provide categories of a content that include running shoes, tennis gear, and car modification kits. Based on the context of the game (e.g., racing game), the category of content selected for overlay may be car modification kits."
[10]
Key to the system is that, as an overlay, the content would be displayed during the game without having to add features to the game itself, which would be costly and put a greater burden on the games' development teams.
The patent, first unearthed by [11]Gamesual , outlines various ways this overlay system could be used beyond gaming services, such as with any application that delivers content through video streams. In addition, service providers could set up online games that would enable users to play the games for free or at discounted pricing if they agree to seeing the ads or other content rather than paying for a subscription to the game, similar to how some streaming video services parse their offerings.
The overlay service is part of Microsoft's ongoing effort to grow its advertising business. Those have included the ads in the Windows 11 [12]Start menu and, even earlier this year, into Windows Insiders' [13]File Explorer . In addition, the company is considering developing low-cost PCs paid for [14]through ads and subscriptions. The Windows giant has also reportedly mulled a [15]"super app" that could help it grow its ad business.
The patent application echoes back a decade, to when the company [16]filed a patent for a content distribution system that would dip into TVs, PCs, and mobile phones to identify each unique viewer of a piece of content and then charge the licensee for every one. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2022250877
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y6GVzleFiq6RTwSi2P9sBAAAAEU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y6GVzleFiq6RTwSi2P9sBAAAAEU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y6GVzleFiq6RTwSi2P9sBAAAAEU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/01/google_class_action_lawsuit/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/05/facebook_challenges_cma_giphy_merger_block/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/30/which_data_survey/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/23/meta_surveillance_advertising_high_court/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y6GVzleFiq6RTwSi2P9sBAAAAEU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y6GVzleFiq6RTwSi2P9sBAAAAEU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://gamesual.com/news/microsoft-patent-advertisements-games/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/31/microsoft_windows_start_menu/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/15/file_explorer_ad/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/02/microsoft_windows_pc_ads/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/07/microsoft_super_app/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2012/11/07/microsoft_drm_spy_patent/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I wonder whatever happened to...
the concept of actually buying something that you actually owned and could do what you liked with and nobody else could piss around with it? License this, ongoing lease that, rental plan the other...
It's getting to year end: time to send some more money to the various penguins I use. Because I truly fear a world where the likes of this is considered good business.
Race Car Liveries?
Advertising Standards are going to get really confused/mad over this......
What's a 'real advert' and what's a custom user created design?
Plenty of JPS and Marlboro liveries in Forza which have been created by players.
No
Get lost.
No
Sounds ghastly
Since the ads are to be served through separate streams hopefully it means those clever people updating Pi-hole (or your alternative favourite ad blocker) will be able to block the ad content.
Although it may start to look a bit ugly in-game with big blank billboards/shirts/car bumpers etc where the ads were supposed to appear
Been done already!
Some one at MS likes MG!
https://theinfosphere.org/Internet
Please, please, please...
Can someone put an end to this "the internet is only there to push ads"?
Re: Please, please, please...
- Can someone put an end to this "the internet is only there to push ads"?
That will only happen when a large enough number of people start paying in cold hard cash for their internet services. That means paying for all the currently free webmail, search, cloud storage, calendars, maps, photo storage and management, VPN services, and websites providing news, information / reference, entertainment etc plus I'm sure I've missed out a few. A quick estimate of Google's revenue vs user base shows that Google make around $100/year/user (and considerably less than that to provide the services they do, hence the massive profits). It's probably similar for FB, plus all the other smaller ones. How many people are willing to pay $200-250/year for a completely ad-free internet? And how many companies are willing to take the risk to go up against the incumbent giants with a paid model, knowing that if you make any headway those same giants will ruthlessly undercut you?
There's a large number of apps with an ad-free paying tier, many niche news and content websites that take a small subscrption fee etc, which tells me that such a model is possible for the small number of people willing to pay. As to the possibility that a critical mass of internet users will migrate to that model, I'm pretty sure that will happen on the same timeframe as airborne bacon.
Re: Please, please, please...
You're right, but paid services - like Sky and some newspaper paid subs - still run ads. The bigger risk is that the likes of Google eventually become essential monopolies and figure that they can charge a subscription **and** run ads as well.
Re: Please, please, please...
And that's it. I'm quite happy to pay for services used on the internet - though I fear that Google and their ilk might have a difference of opinion over what constitutes a 'reasonable' fee - but there is no way on this green earth that I will pay a subscription which also carries adverts.
We're talking about "personalization options that would provide a richer gaming experience".
What does that even mean, a richer gaming experience? The experience that you feel so rich that you can buy this object that is advertised?
If I am "below a threshold interaction count", my screen-saver kicks in. Is Microsoft saying they're going to play adds on the screensaver? Or, if I'm in a game waiting for a monster that will come around the corner, will I get adds for peace-loving objects that prevent me from shooting the monster at exactly the right time?
Or is it a matter of feeding you so many adds that you either give-up or buy a f-ing sibscription?
As a gamer, my idea of richer and more personalised is to be able to mod my game to be more like I want (typically less difficult and with better shoes). Most of the people who push the Richer and More Personalised Experience™ hate modding because it might prevent ads and eat into the margins on their low value, high price DLC.
I take it 'Ready Player One' has been banned for all MS employees.
I wonder what else is on their banned list.
YOU WILL BUY.....
We will drill holes in your eyes and pour in our adverts. YOU WILL BUY WHAT WE WANT TO SELL YOU! Anyone else getting sick to death of all adverts? What ever happened to the idea that we would get "targeted" adverts for stuff that we may actually want? Utter arse-gravy of the stinkiest runniest kind. All I get are adverts for stuff I have already bought or stuff I already decided not to buy. I now habitually mute the TV when the ads come on, I look away when my tablet pushes an advert at me, and avoid websites that have overly aggressive adverts on them, especially those crappy "local news" sites like Kent Live which only seem to exist to spew adverts at you and otherwise have the journalistic integrity of a winnet. No wonder people are going more and more offline when the online experience is just one long vomit stream of advertising.
Re: YOU WILL BUY.....
Targetted adverts work so well. Only last night I was offered a Rigol DS1102ZE oscilloscope, presumbably because if I already bought one six months ago, buying a second is the obvious next step. (What I actually wanted was a replacement remote control for the telly.)
"options that would provide a richer gaming experience"
I can think of a dozen things that would enrich my gaming experience, but ads are nowhere in that list.
And since when are ads the answer to "immersive, personalized content" ?
Just take the marketing department out behind the chemical shed and shoot the lot of them.
Re: "options that would provide a richer gaming experience"
No no, you misunderstand... it means 'richer' for MS
How about no.
I dunno what's worse, the idea or the weasel-wording. Reminds me of awful EA slimeball Riccitiello. ew.
" Essentially the message is, games are fun, but games with ads embedded in them would be more fun. "
More fun for whom, exactly? No don't worry, I already know the answer - Microsoft's accountants.
I swear that outfit gets sleazier by the day.
Not just for games...
They should bring out their ad-supported version of MS glasses and they can start replacing billboards in real life! Imagine the possibilities, those hours of driving enlivened by interactive ads. It'll be good for the economy and good for the user too. (Honest, judge, that cyclist jumped out from behind the Budweiser ad.) Also imagine Clippy offering you a helping hand in those mundane daily tasks. What could possibly go wrong?