You wanted it, Microsoft’s bringing it! In the new future, the Xbox Live service that you paid for will be using your patronage to score even more money off of advertisers! More TV-like commercials will soon be airing on a number of Xbox Live applications, with 15-30 second spots breaking up your entertainment.
The commercials already arrived in the last update for the UFC, Crackle, and TMZ apps, but there are more coming. ESPN, GameSpot, MUZU.tv, Manga Entertainment and Last.fm will have these ads integrated into their services too. Microsoft heard you liked buying things, so it put things to buy in the things you bought so you can buy while you buy. Or something like that. I’m not good with old memes.
“With the growth of Xbox Live, advertisers no longer have to choose between digital and TV advertising – we’re offering the impact of TV and the interactivity and addressability of digital in one platform,” Microsoft’s Ross Honey told Gamasutra. “As more and more industry leaders like ESPN work with us to help monetize their content on Xbox Live, TV media buyers win with the ability to extend their standard TV spots to this highly engaged consumer audience.”
Remember when Microsoft was planning to further monetize you, like you were farm animals? Yeah, welcome to videogames, folks.
