{"id":1725,"date":"2024-07-20T06:48:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T11:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itparadise.net\/2020\/10\/20\/facebook-will-start-putting-ads-in-oculus-quest-apps\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T08:55:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T13:55:30","slug":"facebook-will-start-putting-ads-in-oculus-quest-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/?p=1725","title":{"rendered":"Facebook will start putting ads in Oculus Quest apps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook will soon begin testing ads inside its Oculus Quest virtual reality system. In the coming weeks, ads will start appearing inside the Resolution Games title Blaston<\/em> as well as two other unnamed apps. Facebook will later expand the system based on user feedback, saying it aims to create a \u201cself-sustaining platform\u201d for VR development.<\/p>\n

Facebook introduced ads on the Oculus mobile app last month, and it\u2019s used limited Oculus data to target Facebook advertising since 2019, but this is its first major foray into putting ads inside the Oculus VR platform itself. \u201cOnce we see how this test goes and incorporate feedback from developers and the community, we\u2019ll provide more details on when ads may become more broadly available across the Oculus platform and in the Oculus mobile app,\u201d the company said in a blog post.<\/p>\n

Facebook has \u201cno plans\u201d to base ads on movement or voice command data<\/q><\/aside>\n

As on Facebook\u2019s non-VR apps, you can block specific posts or companies from appearing in ad slots. And Facebook says it\u2019s not changing how it collects or analyzes user information. It says that some of the most sensitive data \u2014 like raw images from Oculus headset cameras and weight or height information from Oculus Move fitness tracking \u2014 remains solely on users\u2019 devices. Also, Facebook says it has \u201cno plans\u201d to target ads based on movement data or recordings from its voice assistant.<\/p>\n

A Facebook spokesperson says the system will <\/em>use information from your Facebook profile, as well as \u201cwhether you\u2019ve viewed content, installed, activated, or subscribed to a Oculus app, added an app to your cart or wishlist, if you\u2019ve initiated checkout or purchased an app on the Oculus platform, and lastly, whether you\u2019ve viewed, hovered, saved, or clicked on an ad within a third-party app.\u201d<\/p>\n

As shown above, users can click an ad and either open it or save the link for later. The former option will launch a landing page in the Oculus Quest\u2019s web browser, and the latter will save the ad in the Quest in-VR experience and Oculus mobile app\u2019s Explore sections. Developers will get a share of the revenue from ads in their apps, but Facebook isn\u2019t publicly revealing the percentage.<\/p>\n

Later ad formats could be tailored specifically to VR<\/q><\/aside>\n

Facebook is leaving its future roadmap open-ended. The spokesperson says Facebook hasn\u2019t determined, for instance, whether ads could eventually appear inside your Oculus Home experience. Facebook also isn\u2019t yet identifying the other apps using advertisements, although it will list additional names in the coming weeks. The first ads look like standard boxes inside game interfaces, but Facebook\u2019s blog post says it\u2019s exploring other options as well. \u201cWe\u2019re currently investing in unobtrusive ads as a new way for developers to build businesses \u2014 and though we\u2019re not quite ready to test them yet, we\u2019re also exploring new ad formats that are unique to VR,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

VR has arguably been an advertising medium for years, with countless film and TV promotional tie-ins as well as novelty experiences from companies like McDonald\u2019s and Ikea. But ad-supported VR apps are using a different model that more closely resembles that of the mobile and web ecosystem. Letting developers integrate advertising could create a greater incentive to work within Facebook\u2019s official ecosystem rather than distributing through sideloading options like SideQuest.<\/p>\n

Facebook says ads are part of an attempt to figure out profitable business options in the growing but often difficult field of VR app development. \u201cThis is a key part of ensuring we\u2019re creating a self-sustaining platform that can support a variety of business models that unlock new types of content and audiences. It also helps us continue to make innovative AR\/VR hardware more accessible to more people,\u201d says the blog post.<\/p>\n

Ads have always seemed in the cards for Facebook\u2019s super-cheap Quest<\/q><\/aside>\n

Facebook currently dominates consumer VR with its Oculus Quest 2 headset \u2014 which, at $299, is one of the cheapest options on the market. It\u2019s also acquired the studios behind several major VR games, including rhythm game Beat Saber<\/em> and the battle royale title Population: One<\/em>. While it may face renewed competition from a second-generation Sony PlayStation VR headset next year, at least one VR company has retreated from consumer hardware in part because of Facebook\u2019s influence: Vive creator HTC, which has called Facebook\u2019s low-cost consumer headsets \u201cartificially subsidized\u201d by the company\u2019s advertising-focused business model.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Facebook has slowly strengthened ties between its central business and Oculus, which it acquired in 2014. It began requiring Facebook logins for Quest headsets last year, although users can maintain separate profiles and use pseudonyms in VR. Adding advertising isn\u2019t a surprising move for the company \u2014 and it\u2019s another signal that Oculus hardware is becoming ever more closely integrated with Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebook will soon begin testing ads inside its Oculus Quest virtual reality system. In…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[38,64,62,66,63,65,69,67,71,68,70],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1989,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725\/revisions\/1989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}