Next Verse
Remember when it seemed like the metaverse was going to be the next big thing in immersive technology and internet marketing?
Yeah, about that.
Four years after rebranding itself for this seemingly inevitable future, Meta has announced plans to significantly cut back on metaverse spending within its Reality Labs division.
Bloomberg reports that Reality Labs, which includes the Quest VR device and “Meta Horizon Worlds” product, could see potential budget cuts as high as 30% and layoffs as early as January.
Instead, that money will likely be redirected to Meta’s other potentially groundbreaking, definitely-not-just-hype-powered projects, like its AI initiatives and wearable smart glasses.
“It’s not that marketers were necessarily wrong to be fascinated by Meta’s metaverse vision – just that the ending was obvious from the start, if we’re being honest with ourselves.
To paraphrase “Folding Ideas” creator Dan Olson, the modern internet already handles most of the functions envisioned within the original sci-fi concept of the metaverse, so the idea that people are going to wander around in what is essentially a badly rendered, purposeless MMO game was never going to be sustainable.
In other words, you’re probably better off putting your ad dollars in Roblox instead.
Apple’s Road Map For Road Maps
They say you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone, and that might be truest of all when talking about ads. They paved paradise and put up … search ads.
Back in October, Apple started hinting that Apple Maps – a heretofore ad-free platform – will introduce search ads next year, much to the chagrin of many users.
It’s a fitting metaphor, really – because there’s only so much real estate left online. No wonder marketers are getting desperate.
As search traffic continues to plummet, their online advertising budgets “[have] to go somewhere,” Raj Lala, VP of US sales and development at Vistar Media, tells Emarketer. Navigation platforms are likely to be one of those places, he observed.
But on a brighter note for consumers, most people find location-based ads less invasive than those that track browser history. Plus, Apple is good at “ensuring that the brands that are surfacing in these environments are going to be highly vetted, filtered and relevant,” said Lala.
That’s something. At least when you see a dozen sponsored results for “restaurants near me” next time you open Apple Maps, the restaurants really will be near you.
Go With The Stream
Advertisers will never successfully end the fragmentation of streaming media for one simple reason: Roku, Paramount, Netflix, Comcast et al. will never agree to expose their data to cross-channel buyers.
The more realistic option is not that they share data, but that the biggest players keep buying up smaller services until only a manageable handful of platforms remain.
This has already been happening for some time, albeit slowly. Disney consolidated Fox and Hulu, while Amazon Prime Video bought MGM Studios.
And now there’s another big prize on the table in the form of Warner Bros. Discovery. Netflix, Paramount and Comcast are bidding for a chance to fold HBO Max and the WBD studio archive into their own libraries.
For CTV advertisers who only want quality supply, the entity that ends up acquiring a service like HBO matters a lot, including their approach to ad load, the types of ad formats they offer and their ad-supported subscriber counts.
On the other hand, Paramount CEO David Ellison just sent a letter denouncing WBD’s deal process, The Wall Street Journal reports, calling it “tilted and unfair.”
The unspoken wild card here, though, is party politics. The Ellisons are allies of President Trump and Paramount boasts of having the cleanest, easiest path to an approved deal. Netflix has the highest bid for WBD, but Reid Hoffman, the company’s co-founder and former CEO, is a Democratic donor.
Maybe the future of streaming media comes down less to CPMs and more to campaign contributions.
But Wait! There’s More
Cyber Monday takes the cake for the biggest online shopping day of the year. [Chief Marketer]
The 2025 year-end rundown with Jounce’s Chris Kane. [AdMonsters]
Publishers turn to vertical video to (hopefully) revive their ad revenue. [Digiday]
Comcast’s Versant spinoff is set to close in January. [Variety]
The free web version of xAI’s Grok chatbot provided the real addresses of nonpublic figures in response to prompts as simple as “[name] address.” [Futurism]
The Trump administration advises denying H-1B visas if an applicant or any of their family members previously worked on social media content moderation. [Reuters]
The EU is launching another formal investigation into Meta, this time regarding WhatsApp’s AI chatbot restrictions. [The Verge]
You’re Hired!
Netflix hires Mother’s Martin Rose as head of creative. [Campaign]
Condé Nast names Vasanth Williams as its new chief product and technology officer. [Adweek]
Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
