Reverse-engineering in-game adverts reveals what they know
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Aug 8th 2005 at 12:09PM }
Dust off that tinfoil hat and read this account of reverse-engineered advertising in the game
SWAT4 from Vivendi.
In the 1.1 patch of SWAT4, Vivendi "Added Massive Streaming Ad Support" to their game, according to the patch notes that were distributed with the game. Gamers Andrew Smith and Peter Wood analyzed the packets that the game was sending back and forth, and produced this detailed write-up.
Part of the outcome is expected. Ads for real products were replaced by ads for fake products. The unexpected part comes when the gamer is done playing, at which point the game:
"contacted madserver to tell the advertisers how long the gamer spent with each advert in their view. This is mapped to the gamer id, so they know which player in the game saw the advert, and when, for how long, and from how far away (by virtue of the size attribute). Even the average viewing angle is passed back."
This level of data is an advertiser's dream, but raises questions about privacy. Still, we can't say we'd mind if some advertiser noticed us spending more time ogling the ads with bodacious bodies (male or female) in them and served up more of the same in response. Now that's a win-win.
[via Tony Walsh's Clickable Culture]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
spencer @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
is SWAT4 a free game? otherwise this would kinda piss me off.
Lectoid @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Too bad it can't track you frowning at an ad. Or what about if your shooting at it? That would be a nice.
"Says here he spend 10 minutes chucking grenades at an ad for "Friends, Season 1"".
funkonaut @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
#2, Haha, you beat me to it.
sam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Whatever. If they can start making enough money out of it that they can start reducing the retail price of games, I'm all for it. This kind of thing should work really well in many MMOs, probably in a lot of FPS games. But I can't really see an elephant with a huge banner for Vonage VoIP service running around near the battle lines in Rome: Total War.
Peter @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
People play games, they don't sit there and passively observe a series of images like they do when they watch TV. The metrics of when a certain textured polygon was viewed and from what angle mean very little when considering this basic premise. Gamers are involved in proactive decision making and tactical thought, they don't have time (or the incliniation) to stop and digest an advertisement during their gameplaying experience.
Judicatorr @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Yeah, this is horse$hit. If I pay for a game, I gotdang well don't want to be subjected to advertisements. And even worse, forced patches to update said advertisements? Friggin' ridiculous!
Eskimo Bob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
#5 I don't know a lot about that kind of thing, but I do believe that even if the person saw the same ad a lot, it could subconciously influence the person to at least recognize the product IRL. I dunno though.
Andrew B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
#4: There's the rub. When companies start plastering ads everywhere, they rarely give the money back to the consumer. For example, I highly doubt that driver rental fees have decreased for NYC cabs as they gain more and more ads. I have no problem with ads for something that is free (i.e. GMail). I make a point of clicking banner ads at websites I like, but when an already expensive product or service tries to sell me something, I do not like it. Now everybody click on the banner at the top of this page.
Peter @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Tthis will not make games cheaper.
I'm glad you brought up the subconcious element, Eskimo Bob. I'm also glad Sam brought up MMO's, as they are both very important peices of this puzzle. Even if you tried your hardest to ignore these ads they'd constantly be there, shattering your immersion. MMo's and (most games) are based on fantasy, so seeing an advertisement for Pizza Hut (EQ2 /pizza, anyone?) or Pepsi is going to throw you out of your unique little experience and back into the corner of pop-culture bullshit. Even if games were FREE because of this proliferation (fat chance) I wouldn't want to play them...
m @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
There is no way this will lower game prices. Ads will just be seen as another easy revenue stream. The closest this will get to benefiting us gamers is maybe a company will say the ad money will be used for free add-ons (of which will either never come out or end up not being free).
Eskimo Bob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I think in-game ads can be okay depending on the type of game and the presentation of the ad. In the Tony Hawk games, there were ads strown all over the background and on coke machines and things like that, but it didn't matter, because you were skateboarding around a city anyway. In some futuristic game that's full of corruption within the government and big business, electronic billboards with ads for big corporations could add to the experience, though most companies probably don't want to be associated with corruption. =P There are instances where it could work, but in a game that provides escapism, that kind of thing is just lame.
jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
thanks for the write-up, but please cut the sexist comments in the future... "ogling the ads with attractive women in them and served up more of the same in response. Now that’s a win-win"
As for the in-game ads, I don't like them and I will steer clear from games that have them.
vladimir cole @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Jae -- the kicker goes both ways. ;)
sam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
how can some of you say "without a doubt" that ads in games wouldnt reduce cost? Isnt there an MMO out there right now that originally was designed with a monthly fee that they totally replaces with in game advertisement? (I think its Anarchy Online or something like that)
CheapyD @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I attended an Advertising Conference here in NYCseveral months ago. The keynote speaker was the head of Massive, Inc.
Massive indicated that in-game advertising will contribute an extra $1-$2 per game sold to the publishers bottom line. The topic was brought up during the Conference and Massive said it was highly unlikely that customers would be receiving any savings.
Also, its nice that those guys went through the trouble to do some reverse engineering, but they haven't uncovered anything that hasn't been actively touted by Massive.
eric @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000660053529/
You have eerily similar introductions here about tin hats...how often are tin hats brought into conversation anyway?
Bubicus @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
The biggest fear I have about ads within games is the effect of ad metrics on level design. For example, if Massive tells level designers that the ads are not being viewed at an optimum angle for a sufficient amount of time, we'll start seeing things like levels with long halls, an ad at the other end, and a conveyor belt on the floor that goes the opposite direction that you're running, so you have to look at the ad for a longer time while you run against the belt. That's when you'll realize how useful (and potentially annoying) this data really is for advertisers and developers. How about a futuristic spaceflight game, where your auto-docking feature automatically docks your ship in front of an ad, and you can't skip the process because Massive told the developers that they'll make a few extra cents per player if they expose them to an ad across from your docking bay?
vladimir cole @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Hey CheapyD -- I was at the same conference. We probably saw each other, but didn't know it, and now we're here on the same blog together. SYNCHRONICITY!
Anyways, #17: very insightful comments. I wish I'd taken the time to provide a few examples to illustrate why the detail of that data is so important. Nice post.
Daniloth @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Personally, I don't care if they find another revenue stream, if it means that good games continue to be created for the PC.
This advertising will likely only be effective in games set within a timeframe comparable to our present world. I didn't find it particularly distracting within Splinter Cell : Chaos Theory. Poster and screensavers of current games/movies/products actually made the world feel a bit more real.
I imagine that gamers will let publishers/game creators know when they've had too much of this new technology, or if it's being used inappropriately (i.e. medieval setting).