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[kadotsu]

People will complain about ads (that includes your BS promotion term) until MS gets them out of the top layer of the OS. I'm OK with a million ads, promotions in any audiovisual or olfactory way the moment (and not sooner) I click on a store related tile. The recent changes in the XMB promoting the Singstar Store, Store Ticker etc annoy me as well.

Take Steam as an example you can boot to your library and won't be bothered to spend any money unless you decide to enter their storefront. The current Xbox dash could be a powerful communication tool that list all your gaming needs on one tile but the ad priority fragment your friends, achievements and game library, which makes the UE worse.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

People will complain about ads (that includes your BS promotion term) until MS gets them out of the top layer of the OS. I'm OK with a million ads, promotions in any audiovisual or olfactory way the moment (and not sooner) I click on a store related tile. The recent changes in the XMB promoting the Singstar Store, Store Ticker etc annoy me as well.

Take Steam as an example you can boot to your library and won't be bothered to spend any money unless you decide to enter their storefront. The current Xbox dash could be a powerful communication tool that list all your gaming needs on one tile but the ad priority fragment your friends, achievements and game library, which makes the UE worse.

This about sums it up, well said.

 

[JohnnyWestlake]

For me, it's more of a news feed, rather than adverts. Apart from the ones that actually say "Advestisement" underneath them, but even then they're mostly still related.

 

[ChimpanzeeThat]

I wouldn't even mind if those adverts were aimed at games i owned, but they rarely are.

 

[REV 09]

Im ok with the dash, makes it feel up-to-date. Lets me know what's new without me having to manually search for everything.

I personally find Neogaf's ads more intrusive.

 

[Haunted]

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.**

The three on the left are not ads.

The rest are ads. "Content promotion", "product information", "infomercials", "sales promotion"... they're all advertising.

 

[RedNumberFive]

For me, it's more of a news feed, rather than adverts. Apart from the ones that actually say "Advestisement" underneath them, but even then they're mostly still related.

I'm not sure how Paranormal Activity 4 being available on Xbox Video and Rihanna (sp?) having a new single don't qualify as being advertisements, or even relate to my gaming experience.

 

[Dany]

That is how I see that grid. One is an add while the rest is just promotion.

Is it terrible for them to show me what new game is out that I can download, that I can watch a show on their netflix app or there is a deal on rockstar games?

 

[WrenchNinja]

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.

You know what would be an even more convenient location to pin games to? The front of the home tab.

 

[RedNumberFive]

That is how I see that grid. One is an add while the rest is just promotion.

Is it terrible for them to show me what new game is out that I can download, that I can watch a show on their netflix app or there is a deal on rockstar games?

pro·mo·tion [pruh-moh-shuhn]
noun

something devised to publicize or advertise a product, cause, institution, etc., as a brochure, free sample, poster, television or radio commercial, or personal appearance.


Let's try this again...

 

[Montresor]

Groan... another ad thread. I will admit that people are justified in being peeved at the dashboard ads. But it doesn't bother me. In fact, I welcome it when the dashboard tells me there is a sale on an arcade game.

 

[REV 09]

Take Steam as an example you can boot to your library and won't be bothered to spend any money unless you decide to enter their storefront.

dude, steam bombards you with pop-up ads as soon as you exit a game. These are worse than the Xbox imo because I have to manually click out of them.

 

[Nealand Liquor]

Lol, I don't care one bit. If I want to play a game or navigate live without being 'assulted' (lol) by ads I can. However I like the current set up, I have saved money, been informed, and received freebies I would have missed with the old system. Too me all this hoopla surrounding ads on live is exactly as a gaffer said in another thread: hollow offense where people today act like some Southern Belle being overcome by 'the vapors'.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

People will complain about ads (that includes your BS promotion term) until MS gets them out of the top layer of the OS. I'm OK with a million ads, promotions in any audiovisual or olfactory way the moment (and not sooner) I click on a store related tile. The recent changes in the XMB promoting the Singstar Store, Store Ticker etc annoy me as well.

Take Steam as an example you can boot to your library and won't be bothered to spend any money unless you decide to enter their storefront. The current Xbox dash could be a powerful communication tool that list all your gaming needs on one tile but the ad priority fragment your friends, achievements and game library, which makes the UE worse.

Exactly. Let the main blade be ad free. let us access our games, music, etc easily. Then if we wanna use video services such as Netflix, Amazon, ESPN, or hell any other application we downloaded for the system or we gointo the store sections then feel free to flood us with ads. Just have some respect for your users.

 

[kadotsu]

dude, steam bombards you with pop-up ads as soon as you exit a game. These are worse than the Xbox imo because I have to manually click out of them.

No it doesn't.

 

[epmode]

dude, steam bombards you with pop-up ads as soon as you exit a game. These are worse than the Xbox imo because I have to manually click out of them.

Thankfully, you can disable the popups in the options menu.

 

[Papercuts]

dude, steam bombards you with pop-up ads as soon as you exit a game. These are worse than the Xbox imo because I have to manually click out of them.

It should also be noted steam is defaulted to always pop open on the store unless you dig into options and change it. Same with disabling these, but they are defaulted on.

Having more options to customize the 360 stuff would be nice.

 

[Dany]

So what? Its different if they are advertising a game on their service or some deodorant. For me at least I can see the difference.

 

[REV 09]

Thankfully, you can disable the popups in the options menu.

Thanks actually, didn't know this.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Thankfully, you can disable the popups in the options menu.

Yup. I never get those ads because I disabled them which steam gives you an option too. That's honestly the easiest way to handle this. Just give users the options. Say ok do you want to see ads on your mainpage? Yes No

Then the rest is free game.

 

[Spongebob]

It's only going to get worse with nextbox.

More ads, more bloatware.

 

[Haunted]

So what? Its different if they are advertising a game on their service or some deodorant. For me at least I can see the difference.

It's totally fine if ads don't bother you because you're interested in the product. But they're still ads.

 

[Uno Venova]

Of course they're ads, no need for confusion about it. Whether you're okay with it or not is a different story. I would not like to have them at all.

 

[Clay Davis]

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

you're right, but an ad promoting content that's available on the platform surely isn't a bad thing? would you prefer they not promote or advertise the latest games releases or the latest sales? the home tab makes the most sense when you want to promote new content, if the first people will see.

Groan... another ad thread. I will admit that people are justified in being peeved at the dashboard ads. But it doesn't bother me. In fact, I welcome it when the dashboard tells me there is a sale on an arcade game.

I felt there was a need for this thread. reading a microsoft thread these past few days (especially so since sony revealed the feb 20th reveal for the future of playstation), the bulk of posts are complaining, mocking, etc the ads (amongst other things) and it's gotten to the point where it can be hard to have a productive discussion. if people focus it here, hopefully those thread will free for people who want to chat about the topic at hand instead of having to reads post after post complaining about these things.

 

[Durante]

People will complain about ads (that includes your BS promotion term) until MS gets them out of the top layer of the OS. I'm OK with a million ads, promotions in any audiovisual or olfactory way the moment (and not sooner) I click on a store related tile. The recent changes in the XMB promoting the Singstar Store, Store Ticker etc annoy me as well.

Exactly on point. Including the Singstar icon, which annoys me to no end.

 

[Haunted]

you're right, but an ad promoting content that's available on the platform surely isn't a bad thing? would you prefer they not promote or advertise the latest games releases or the latest sales?

I prefer they would give me the option to not see those ads, absolutely.

Exactly on point. Including the Singstar icon, which annoys me to no end.

Yes, what the fuck was that about. Really confused me since I never played or installed a Singstar game on my PS3. Even more annoying than "free weekend" games appearing in my Steam library (not sure they're doing that anymore).

 

[Bedlam]

I basically don't want to see any content promotion when I start up the console. Show me that shit when I navigate to the specific marketplace section of the dashboard. That's my biggest gripe. Instead I'd love to have a nice, clean and customizable startscreen but MS doesn't even let me do that. For example, I'm not particularly fond of the color green so I'm fucked in that regard as well and I can't ever properly see my custom wallpaper either because MS decided to cover half of it with that stupid fog.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

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

yup

 

[FordGTGuy]

I look at it in the same way as paying to go see a movie and having to watch the ads and movie trailers before the movie I paid to see.

There is nothing wrong with ads that advertise content you've been noted as interested in, same way Youtube advertises videos from your watching history. Xbox on the hand blindly advertises any recent gaming/movie/tv show content on the dash without any intelligence behind it.

As a Gold subscriber they should give you the choice to have them and actual advertisements shouldn't be on a dashboard of a gold subscriber.

 

[Clay Davis]

I prefer they would give me the option to not see those ads, absolutely.

a fair request and it's something I asked in the opening post. I feel options would be nice for those who don't like them.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

I prefer they would give me the option to not see those ads, absolutely.

Exactly. If I want to see what's on sale or what's just added to the store I'll go to the store page and look. It's not that hard. Again it comes back to the option. Just give people the option. Those that want the ads can have them. Those that don't want them don't have them.

 

[Haunted]

I look at it in the same way as paying to go see a movie and having to watch the ads and movie trailers before the movie I paid to see.

It's pretty fascinating to see how the movie industry has managed to make those ads part of the "moviegoing experience".

 

[ElRenoRaven]

It's pretty fascinating to see how the movie industry has managed to make those ads part of the "moviegoing experience".

See I'm ok with trailers but goddamn they literally have tv commercials before the movies now. So annoying. That's why I just waste 5 minutes before I go in. Problem solved. lol

 

[OldJadedGamer]

It's pretty fascinating to see how the movie industry has managed to make those ads part of the "moviegoing experience".

They used to show cartoons

 

[Clay Davis]

It's pretty fascinating to see how the movie industry has managed to make those ads part of the "moviegoing experience".

I'm not sure they have. in the UK, the ads usually run during the first ten minutes of so and that's often to allow for people to get settled, etc. you're not forced to sit there and watch them, the lights are still on and you can fiddle with your phone, you can leave, head back to the concession stands and buy some popcorn, etc.

 

[Clay Davis]

They used to show cartoons

my dad talks about when they used to show cartoons and he's a few days away from his 60th birthday.

 

[FordGTGuy]

I'm not sure they have. in the UK, the ads usually run during the first ten minutes of so and that's often to allow for people to get settled, etc. you're not forced to sit there and watch them, the lights are still on and you can fiddle with your phone, you can leave, head back to the concession stands and buy some popcorn, etc.

I'm sorry but I paid for a movie I got my food and drinks and I'm sitting down waiting for it to start and I'm most definitely being forced to watch them before being able to watch the content I paid to watch.

Last time I checked everyone in the theater didn't have a skip this trailer button on their sits. Ads are shown first, trailer ads second and finally the movie I am not going to sit outside waiting for the ads to end to take my seat.

 

[stktt]

It's only going to get worse with nextbox.

More ads, more bloatware.

What would constitute bloatware? It's typically a word used to describe unnecessary applications that impair performance, and the 360's UI is far from sluggish.

I basically don't want to see any content promotion when I start up the console. Show me that shit when I navigate to the specific marketplace section of the dashboard. That's my biggest gripe. Instead I'd love to have a nice, clean and customizable startscreen but MS doesn't even let me do that. For example, I'm not particularly fond of the color green so I'm fucked in that regard as well and I can't ever properly see my custom wallpaper either because MS decided to cover half of it with that stupid fog.

It doesn't cover customization options, but pressing the guide button while the 360 is booting up gives you a menu devoid of advertisements that can take you to your game library.

 

[King_Moc]

"Content Promotion", lol.

It's an advert. And you're paying for them.

 

[Rorschach]

I wish the would implement ads into the guide button. It feels really empty.

 

[King_Moc]

I'm not sure they have. in the UK, the ads usually run during the first ten minutes of so and that's often to allow for people to get settled, etc. you're not forced to sit there and watch them, the lights are still on and you can fiddle with your phone, you can leave, head back to the concession stands and buy some popcorn, etc.

Everyone i know always wants to get there early for the trailers. Pisses me off no end, especially as i barely have even a passing interest in films.

 

[FordGTGuy]

"Content Promotion", lol.

It's an advert. And you're paying for them.

Look it's hard to just throw them away like that some people rely on these ads to see what new content is available to them. Even Steam pops open a window with content promotion and without trailers before movies most people wouldn't even know what movies were coming out.

But it should be a choice... no doubt in that.

 

[adelante]

Personally I don't mind the ads...

BUT I would've preferred if they don't intrude into the same space as console functions, ie make a CLEAR distinction between:

- tiles that allows you to access your console contents/settings
- tiles that serves as ads/promos

Right now, even that tile reserved for inserted discs also looks like an ad when it's filled with game art; sticking with a disc icon would've suffice, make it similar to how the XMB works: highlighting that disc tile fills the background with relevant game art.

 

[Winterfang]

Groan... another ad thread. I will admit that people are justified in being peeved at the dashboard ads. But it doesn't bother me. In fact, I welcome it when the dashboard tells me there is a sale on an arcade game.

Also, you know when they are free games right away.

 

[Clay Davis]

I'm sorry but I paid for a movie I got my food and drinks and I'm sitting down waiting for it to start and I'm most definitely being forced to watch them before being able to watch the content I paid to watch.

Last time I checked everyone in the theater didn't have a skip this trailer button on their sits.

that's where we differ. I often try to time it so I buy my ticket and go in just as the ads are starting. that usually gives me ten minutes to visit the WC if needs be, buy some popcorn, etc and then head back. that's usually ten minutes gone and I usually re-enter when the last ad is playing or when the trailers have started.

there have been times when I've got to the cinema really early. when that happens, I usually just head to the arcade section.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Right now, even that tile reserved for inserted discs also looks like an ad when it's filled with game art; sticking with a disc icon would've suffice, make it similar to how the XMB works: highlighting that disc tile fills the background with relevant game art.

That's a little silly, it's not like the insert disc tile jumps around to different spots on the dash when your not looking, if you used the UI before you'd have no problem finding the disc tile.

that's where we differ. I often try to time it so I buy my ticket and go in just as the ads are starting. that usually gives me ten minutes to visit the WC if needs be, buy some popcorn, etc and then head back. that's usually ten minutes gone and I usually re-enter when the last ad is playing or when the trailers have started.

there have been times when I've got to the cinema really early. when that happens, I usually just head to the arcade section.

No matter how you're sitting down to see a movie the ads are there for a movie you paid for and you have no ability to skip them. By skip I don't mean get up and go to the bathroom or play with my phone I mean instantly skip them and get to my movie.

This is why I can't stand HULU you pay to stream content and they leave the ads in the content!

 

[Clay Davis]

Everyone i know always wants to get there early for the trailers. Pisses me off no end, especially as i barely have even a passing interest in films.

trailers are something that used to really appeal to me but since most of the often appear online with hours, it's not that big of a deal any more.

still, it must suck having to sit through 10 minutes of ads and then another 10 minutes of trailers if you've no interest in either.

 

[Withnail]

You're not the customer, you're the product.

Your attention is being sold to the highest bidder.

 

[adelante]

That's a little silly, it's not like the insert disc tile jumps around to different spots on the dash when your not looking, if you used the UI before you'd have no problem finding the disc tile.

My issue is not being able to find the disc tile, but how at a glance it blends in with everything else, it's just not aesthetically appealing to me at all. Tiles that tie to console-specific functions should remain visually separate to ads and promos imho. It's like a website having buttons that link to its contents looking no different than its ads.

 

[Dipswitch]

Doesn't really bother me per se, but there's no denying the dashboards are evolving into something catering more to advertisers than to consumers.

Best thing you can do is simply not highlight any of the video ads (Causing them to play with sound, which I'm assuming counts as a 'View+') or click through any of the other ads.

That's not going to stop them of course. But it'll make sure MS doesn't make any additional revenue from said advertisers. And possibly discourage advertisers from using the dashboard at all if they don't think the marketing is effective.