Facebook announced today that it is testing in-headset ads in its Oculus Quest virtual reality platform over the next few weeks. The company will kick off the test with Resolution Games' Blaston along with other developers.
The move marks the first time ads will show up inside the Oculus VR system. Facebook aims for the test to gather feedback from developers and the community. In the future, the company plans to expand ads across the entire Oculus platform and its mobile app after incorporating input from the early testers. You will have the option to open an ad or save the link for later.
Facebook will also provide guidance to businesses and developers in terms of putting ads on Oculus. As usual, you'll have the option to hide specific ads or companies from showing up in ads and there will be no changes to how the firm collects and processes user information. Facebook vowed to keep sensitive data including raw images from Oculus sensors and weight or height data from Oculus Move on-device. The company also promised that it won't use movement data, voice interactions, nor the content of your conversations to target ads.
Of course, developers will receive their share from ad revenues that appear in their apps, although it isn't clear how much they're getting. While the in-headset ads are still in early testing, Facebook revealed that it's "exploring new ad formats that are unique to VR."
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