If you know somebody who regularly clicks on video ads in the Xbox 360 dashboard, you now have a perfectly valid reason to punch them in the face; a relatively small level of interaction has proven enough for Microsoft to enthusiastically declare the ads’ success, and threaten plenty more funding for them.
As reported by Eurogamer (amongst others), these “NUads” (ugh) have, sadly, not been ignored completely. Microsoft highlights interaction with ads which offer a vote, pointing out that 37% of viewers when it comes to such ads click through, and 71% of those actually go ahead and cast votes. In real terms, this means that less than 27% of people took advantage of the ads’ voting – but this, it seems, is more than enough to fill advertising executives with disturbing glee.
“When we launched NUads, we redefined the 30-second spot. These results show that NUads is a real breakthrough in TV advertising, and you can expect more investment from us when it comes to this new ad format and video advertising in general.” said Microsoft’s Ross Honey, depressingly.
It’s worth remembering that Kinect has the potential – the ability, in fact – to collect biometric data regarding anybody in its field of vision. Back when NUads were first officially announced, a Microsoft rep said the following in his effort to sell the idea to advertisers:
“How many people are in the living room? Are they taking any action based on the advertising they just saw? Can we watch the customers’ reaction, and if we can, do we have the capability of showing a different ad, or the same ad, depending on what the reaction was?”
Can’t wait for the next Xbox console, eh?
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