Longer, bigger ads abound on newly released Zune apps

Ads are a bittersweet tool. For most end users they’re a pain, taking up valuable seconds and pixels in your life. For advertisers they are a bet that they can reach just one more person than they did yesterday. It’s all about getting your name and product out there right? However, for some of the Zune free Zune games that were just released, the ads are full screen videos that can last as long as 30 seconds when launching certain games. Should we be surprised? No. In an age were ad revenue is going through some drastic changes, the ad market and how they’re delivered is sure to get shaken up.

However you have to remember that it costs money to develop apps, if you can recoup a small portion of that development by selling some ad space more power to ya. It’s when ads get out of control and inhibit enjoyment of the task at hand. Moving back to the Zune, the apps aren’t all 30 seconds in length or full screen. Some are your traditional smaller ads placed strategically throughout the app during live game play while some are the full screen ads that display while a game is loading. It’s also worth mentioning that not all the free apps have ads. The weather app for instance is ad free.

So the question comes up of which is better and for who? Would you rather have a small ad(s) placed throughout your screen during game play or have one large, longer add during game loading? Heck, those seconds lost during loading are useless anyway aren’t they? My vote is during loading time. I’d much rather have my gaming sessions make use of as many pixels as possible. Feel the same?

Source: Slashdot, Ars Technica

Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!