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[Clay Davis]

I see a lot of posts about the ads on xbox live cluttering virtually any and all threads about microsoft / the nextbox and it got me wondering, what do people consider ads.

for example, here's a uk dashboard with gold sub...

I see lots of content promotion and one ad. I've never really thought of promoting content as advertising through the dashboard, but it seems a lot of people do based on the posts about how ad ridden the 360 is.

so my question is, what is an ad? should content promotion be toned down or removed altogether next gen? should they give the option to disable it? what if sony were to follow a similar approach, will it affect your purchasing of the ps4?

* a picture of the us dashboard with gold sub would be appreciated. one that's relatively up to date. thanks.**

 

[RedNumberFive]

Dude... They're all ads! Lets quit constantly redefining them.

 

[epmode]

I see lots of content promotion and one ad. I've never really thought of promoting content as advertising

When that garbage is thrown into practically every section of the 360's UI, it absolutely is an ad. And it's a huge waste of space. I love how the useful icons barely take up a quarter of the page.

 

[StuBurns]

It's obscene, and MS are a classless company.

Anything suggesting a product is an ad.

 

[WrenchNinja]

I'd like to put my game tiles where those ad tiles are.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

I have no idea why people are even complaining about this. At least in Europe all the ads are of video games. I really don't see the issue. It's not like you have to watch a trailer before playing a game either.

 

[V_Ben]

I'd like to put my game tiles where those ad tiles are.

I would LOVE to be able to customise my panels. Just let me make them all links to games I play most. Jesus.

 

[bedlamite]

Another dashboard ad thread?

 

[SirMossyBloke]

I'm perfectly fine with this. Showing me sales, or new movies available to watch, or newly released games.

It doesn't cause me any issue, yet saves me hunting around to find whats new.

If it got in my way i'd be annoyed, but it doesnt.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I would LOVE to be able to customise my panels. Just let me make them all links to games I play most. Jesus.

I want to do this on all the systems I own, not just the 360. I would love to delete more than 80% of the things on the Dashboard/XMB/Wii menu.

 

[epmode]

I have no idea why people are even complaining about this. At least in Europe all the ads are of video games. I really don't see the issue. It's not like you have to watch a trailer before playing a game either.

This post invariably pops up in any ad-related thread and it depresses me every time.

If it got in my way i'd be annoyed, but it doesnt.

It does. There's a ton of wasted space that could be replaced with genuinely useful functionality instead of spreading it across 10 different tabs.

 

[Ragus]

66% of tiles in the 1st picture are ads.

40% of tiles in the 2nd picture are ads.

Disgusting.

 

[Withnail]

How is content promotion not an ad? Lol.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Oh god, not again... Didn't we have that same conversation in a huge thread just a month or so ago?

 

[Ghazi]

The only time I'm fine with this is when it's advertising a sale. I probably wouldn't have known about the sale otherwise.

 

[V_Ben]

I want to do this on all the systems I own, not just the 360. I would love to delete more than 80% of the things on the Dashboard/XMB/Wii menu.

Yes please. I've sorted all of my games into folders on my PS3, and its just so convenient. Let me hide bullshit i'm never going to look at.

 

[Durante]

The screenshots in the OP are repulsive to me. Per my definition, more than half of the screen is taken up by ads. Now I know why I haven't turned on my 360 in years.

 

[RedNumberFive]

How is content promotion not an ad? Lol.

It's not an ad if I like what's being advertised!

 

[Goon Boon]

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/n5831/how_to_block_xbox_dashboard_ads/

tl;dr: You need to prevent your Xbox from accessing the domains rpt.rad.msn.com and msnvidweb.vo.msecnd.net.
Note: Xbox Live recently (some time around August 2012) changed their ad server from rad.msn.com to rpt.rad.msn.com. You will need to update your filtering options in order to continue blocking ads. Also note that the domain serving dashboard content, epix.xbox.com, may also be the source of some picture ads - blocking it will give you an error message every time you sign in, but none of the extra superfluous dashboard content will be present.
Inspired by this thread and the obnoxious video ads (yeah, seeing Chuck Norris' face on every fucking screen gets old fast), I took it upon myself to find an easy way to block them. There are multiple ways you can do this, but I'm going to use OpenDNS since it's probably the easiest:
Sign up for an OpenDNS account (it's free).
Add a network for your current IP address.
Go to Advanced Settings and next to 'Domain Typos', check the box 'Enable typo correction' if it's not already checked and apply.
Got to Web Content Filtering settings, set the filtering level to 'None', under 'Manage individual domains' put rpt.rad.msn.com and msnvidweb.vo.msecnd.net on separate lines, select 'Always block', and click 'Add domain'. Screenshot.
On your Xbox, go to System Settings -> Network Settings -> (your connection) -> Configure Network -> DNS settings -> Manual, and enter the OpenDNS IP addresses for the primary and secondary DNS servers: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.
You may need to clear your hard drive cache before ads disappear entirely: System Settings -> Storage -> scroll down to Hard Drive and press Y -> Clear System Cache. Note that you'll have to re-download any title updates for any games you play after doing this.
No longer pay to be advertised to.
You may also wish to configure your router to use OpenDNS' DNS servers via a static DNS setting, instead of setting it up on your Xbox. Doing so will block the ads for any device that connects to your network, so you don't have to configure them one-by-one.
One other note: If your IP address changes, you will need to update your OpenDNS network to match. If that happens frequently, you probably want the OpenDNS updater.
Alternatively, your may find it easier to configure your router to block the domain by using its site blocking or website filtering options. It has been reported to work for DD-WRT and Netgear routers, but not Linksys and possibly others, so your results may vary.
A second alternative is to use internet connection sharing (ICS). Add the ad server domains to your hosts file and have your Xbox connect through your PC with an ethernet cable. It will work exactly the same.
To test if it will be blocked successfully, try to load https://rpt.rad.msn.com/. If the page fails to load, gives you a 404 error, or you get a security error (like this), then it's blocked. If you get this 403 error, it's not blocked.

Does this still work?

 

[RoKKeR]

I liked how Far Cry and Dishinored were "hidden gems".

Oh Microsoft.

 

[Iorv3th]

I know on the US dashboard a lot of times it will be sports, music, or movies promoted on the home page. It's annoying. I would like something more like steam, or give me the option to show only game related content as I have never bought music/movies on the xbox before but have bought dlc/arcade games.

 

[StuBurns]

I have no idea why people are even complaining about this. At least in Europe all the ads are of video games. I really don't see the issue. It's not like you have to watch a trailer before playing a game either.

That's bollocks. I was going to list them all, but I literally couldn't be bothered, there's at least four LoveFilm ads alone.

 

[iMax]

Seeing as Xbox LIVE is all about consuming content, I have no problem with this at all. If you refuse to have advertising, how are you going to reach and discover the content you want? The big problem I have with the dashboard is the advertisement tile on the bottom right, which when selected, blurts out the loudest noise ever. Drives me insane every time I accidentally hit it.

 

[TangerineCloud]

I'm perfectly fine with this. Showing me sales, or new movies available to watch, or newly released games.

It doesn't cause me any issue, yet saves me hunting around to find whats new.

If it got in my way i'd be annoyed, but it doesnt.

This exactly how I feel about it. I actually kind of like it when new XBLA games and sales are right there on the dashboard since it makes them easier to find/purchase.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

As said they're all ads.
Do the masses know about digital they probably wouldn't otherwise? Sure, but it's intrusive as hell.

The bloody LoveFilm or any ad that you accidently move over and auto play.... god I hate them.

The fact that at least Gold members don't have the option to turn them off is beyond me. Crazy, crazy practice.

 

[Oemenia]

As much as I hate the new dash, its still far easier to get around than the PS3 UI.

 

[JoshHood]

The only one I don't consider an ad is the recommended stuff. But if that was really vague and not targeted that well also, I'd be annoyed at that. It's hilarious the amount of ads there are for a paid online service though - really should be no ads for Gold.

I like the way the XMB does it - there's a specific section to go to of you want to see what's new, otherwise no ads. The Vita's alright too, the three panels at the bottom of the multitasking UI don't bother me because a) one is often a link to the Store, and one to the PS website and b) I only ever go that screen by accident.

 

[CambriaRising]

Ads and Unused screen real estate. $59.99 a year.

 

[Flame Lord]

Yeah I could careless about "ad" that everyone keeps complaining about. There have been several times that I have been able to get to some content I was going to buy just buy clicking an ad.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

This post invariably pops up in any ad-related thread and it depresses me every time.



It does. There's a ton of wasted space that could be replaced with genuinely useful functionality instead of spreading it across 10 different tabs.

But I think finding out about sales and new releases as being useful to me. So it doesnt get in my way.

 

[RedNumberFive]

...Xbox LIVE is all about consuming content...

Xbox Live is all about turning YOU into a product.

 

[iMax]

Xbox Live is all about turning YOU into a product.

You are the ad.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

This post invariably pops up in any ad-related thread and it depresses me every time.

Err... Okay? I'm sorry that I made you depressed, I guess.

It's not an ad if I like what's being advertised!

Well, that doesn't really make sense though. A lot of websites these days, like Facebook, look at your cookies/cache/things you like and make advertisements based on that. So a person who likes cars would get a lot of ads for cars on Facebook. It's still ads. I get where you're going though, and it's nice that we're getting more relevant ads. If a website or a tv channel or whatever need to have ads then they should at least have ads that are relevant to the viewer. You don't ever see an ad for hairspray in a gaming mag, for instance.

That's bollocks. I was going to list them all, but I literally couldn't be bothered, there's at least four LoveFilm ads alone.

LoveFilm doesn't exist in Sweden. No issue for me. 1-0, buddy.

 

[epmode]

But I think finding out about sales and new releases as being useful to me. So it doesnt get in my way.

That stuff is useful! But just relegate it to its own tab. Steam does this and it works well.

Err... Okay? I'm sorry that I made you depressed, I guess.

It's OK, there are a lot of posts like that so I've gotten used to it!

 

[Kokonoe]

You know what was great about the NXE Dashboard? You didn't have to see ads if all you wanted to do was look at your own content, and it looked pretty at the same time while being easier and quicker to navigate then the Xbox menu now.

 

[RedNumberFive]

I agree with you dude. I was just trying to get that flimsy argument out of the way early.

 

[Diablohead]

I personally do not mind the ads which are about current and new game content, that stuff is fine to me. I just dislike lynx or nexflix movie adverts in the corners but it's out of the way.

It does get a little worse when you go into some sections, it was worse in the past that's for sure.

I would prefer more shortcut links to other parts of the dash over adverts but since they introduced the pins menu I use that 50% of the time.

 

[Caffeine]

Ye they really are all ads even though people like major nelson and such say that they are just a game content notification or a event notification. Its still being displayed like posters in front of gamestop they are ads because they are advertising this new game content or a event that is hosted by axe.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Dude... They're all ads! Lets quit constantly redefining them.

When that garbage is thrown into practically every section of the 360's UI, it absolutely is an ad. And it's a huge waste of space. I love how the useful icons barely take up a quarter of the page.

DING DING DING DING DING. I laugh at trying to redefine it as "Promotion". Those are ads plain and simple. Are some advertising live content? Yes but they're still ads.

 

[StuBurns]

LoveFilm doesn't exist in Sweden. No issue for me. 1-0, buddy.

That's not how facts work. The UK is in Europe, you said no ads in Europe were for non-games, you are wrong. Well, you're either wrong or lying, I don't know, or care, which.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

That's not how facts work. The UK is in Europe, you said no ads in Europe were for non-games, you are wrong. Well, you're either wrong or lying, I don't know, or care, which.

Haha, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Either that or you're having a bad day.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

That stuff is useful! But just relegate it to its own tab. Steam does this and it works well.



It's OK, there are a lot of posts like that so I've gotten used to it!

They could I guess, and I wouldn't mind too much if they did. I dunno, I just like the feeling of being connected to multiple points of interest without having to find it. Laziness probably lol

I actually prefer the Xbox dash over the PS3 UI because of this.

Probably madness.

 

[StuBurns]

Haha, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Either that or you're having a bad day.

I just think it's obnoxious to pretend this isn't an issue 'in Europe', if you'd said in Sweden, I wouldn't have commented at all.

 

[den]

You are the ad.

Better with kinect

 

[Alx]

Yeah, we've been having that discussion over and over already... And in the end it turns out that some people are more sensitive to "ads" or "content promotion" than others. Everything considered, I think you must be very senstive to have them ruin your experience.

My opinion on those and on the inevitable comments on ads on Xbox gold :
- I'd rather not have the ad on the lower right corner. I find it quite easy to ignore though.
- Product promotion, or "what's new" tiles are a good thing IMO, to be aware of new content or promotions. It's logical to see them on the Game, Music or Video pages. The home page is debatable.
- Customization features would be great indeed.
- Paying for a service doesn't mean you should be freed from ads. In most media (TV, movies, magazines,...), income is assured both by what the user pays and what the advertisers pay. It's nothing different here.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

I just think it's obnoxious to pretend this isn't an issue 'in Europe', if you'd said in Sweden, I wouldn't have commented at all.

Well, it isn't an issue.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

The store and the dashboard are the exact same thing. Not sure Nintendo will do it but look for Sony to combine the two next gen as well. They already started doing the full screen XMB ads for Europeans with the unremovable Singstar tab upon boot up.

 

[Ein Bear]

It's obscene, and MS are a classless company.

Anything suggesting a product is an ad.

This.

With every Firmware update the 360 becomes more and more obnoxious with it's attempts to get yet more money out of me. I shudder to think what their next console's UI will look like.

 

[ChimpanzeeThat]

I never really noticed them before until i turned off the auto play function.

It really is just straight up advertising though, which considering we pay for Gold memberships, is not fair.

 

[stktt]

I'd like to put my game tiles where those ad tiles are.

The pin functionality already lets you put whatever you want in a pretty convenient location, and you can press the guide button if you never want to see an advertisement. I enjoy having relevant content (not the bottom right title) surfaced, and accessing my games is far from difficult. So long as that aspect of the dashboard doesn't change, I see them as something beneficial.