This past June Microsoft announced that several major companies have signed up to advertise via their Xbox 360 console. These companies did not sign up to run regular TV or video commercials, but instead, to utilize the "NUads" from Microsoft. The "NUads" are advertisements which utilize the Kinect motion gesture add-on, which in turn allows the viewers to interact with the advertisements via polls and more. If you don't have a Kinect, that's alright because you can also interact with the advertisements via your Xbox 360 controller.

The NUads first started to make an appearance on a number of Microsoft's streaming video applications last fall in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. These ads featured companies such as Subway and Toyota, who contributed to the list of major companies that Microsoft spoke about. Today, Microsoft has said that roughly 37% of the audience who watched the videos actually engaged with the advertisements when prompted to. Of the 37%, 71% actually cast their vote in the interactive polls and 97% seen their vote included in the final poll results.

What does this mean for Xbox 360 users? You can expect to see even more NUads coming in the future. Microsoft stated, "you can expect more investment from us when it comes to this new ad format and video advertising in general." Despite this statement, they would not reveal the exact numbers or figure of how many more NUads would be coming, nor did it state what new companies would be joining in.



Posted: Jan 10, 2013 10:50 am
Related Forum: Xbox Forum