Discord, one of today’s most popular instant messaging and VoIP social platforms for gamers, will begin showing ads next week as part of a new plan for boosting revenue, The Wall Street Journal has learned. It was only a few years ago that Jason Citron, Discord’s CEO, told reporters that Discord wouldn’t lean toward a traditional ad model, describing them as being “too intrusive,” and how the platform’s ad-free nature made it more “comfortable and safe.”
Citron said in 2021:
- “We believe that people’s data is their data and that people should feel comfortable and safe to have conversations and that their data is not going to be used against them in any way that is is improper.”
- “We take privacy very seriously. We do not scan peoples’ messages. We do not read them. However, Discord does not have end-to-end encryption. So if you break our community guidelines, we will go investigate.”
- “…if we do find that you are doing that, we will ban you, so that we take privacy very seriously. But we also have a trade-off where we also take safety very seriously.”
The WSJ reported:
The paid promotions are from videogame makers and will offer users gifts for completing in-game tasks while their friends watch on Discord. Discord is looking to hire more than a dozen people for ad-sales positions, according to people familiar with its plans. Discord said users will be able to turn off the ads in their settings.
The company has long relied on its Nitro subscription service, which offers the ability to upload large files and other perks, to boost revenue since its introduction in 2016. Prices range from $2.99 to $9.99 a month.
Discussion (15 replies)
Join Discussion →And this is the beginning of the end for discord. Why... because to get good adds they need to market to the gamer. Basing that on what they are members of... what they say or have said in a discord... and so on.
If they just do some random banner ads on the app - no one will care and it will do just fine. Advertisers will hate it and it won't bring in much revenue.
If they implement some kind of ad popup window, advertisers will love it, but people will hate it and stop using Discord.
If they do some crazy AI crap where they actually insert voice/audio ads into your audio stream - I'll be impressed at the level of intrusion. Kids may roll with it since it won't interrupt their gaming, just their chatting.
If they do as Grimlakin is suggesting and actually listen in on conversations to provide relevant ads - that will get them crazy ad revenue. I mean, Amazon does this blatantly (and people pay for the privilege of having Alexa), I suspect Apple/Google do it as well. So it isn't unheard of. I can imagine how a lot of the typical gaming banter would transfer into advertisements for butt plugs and lingerie for "your momma"
But it all depends on how the ads are implemented/presented.
I don't use Discord anyway, so whatever they do I'll just sit by with popcorn and watch.
In a bit of reading the adds are promoted public streams of people playing games... I think? Still unclear.
Whatever they do, I’m expecting my pihole will rip the ads right out of it. If not, then it might be time to find a discord replacement
Will there ever be a social media platform that DOESN'T devolve into an echo chamber? Not as long as advertising is the primary revenue.
Man, I really hope they don't screw this up. I really like Discord and use it for a lot of stuff.
Who am I kidding though? They will screw this up.
I don't get this. It's already an echo chamber. I don't participate in discords that are all about shock and trying to piss people off. Or politics. So in essence the echo chamber is there. I'm curious what you mean. Can you explain? It sounds to me like you are worried about trash discord channels all about people insulting others for no good reason won't be allowed due to advertisers not wanting to associate with them? Yea that's the worst case take. Hence my question.
Every social media platform that derives revenue from targeted advertisements or that uses an algorithm to feed articles (and thus advertisement revenue) devolves into an echo chamber. It isn't unique to Discord. My commentary was more on the state of social media than it was regarding Discord specifically. With Discord now providing targeted advertisement, it will become even more of an echo chamber than it may already be.
So is this real? I thought it was an aprils fools joke.
As much as I hate to admit that Elon Musk might have done something good, but twitter seems much less of an echo chamber since he took over.
Discord however is an echo chamber by design, everyone with their own little isolated bubbles.
Just about everything has ads now so I'm not surprised.
I'm actually surprised Discord didn't start using ads sooner.
What the heck is everyone using discord for that there is discussion about echo chambers? The Stellaris, BG3,D2R, etc discord channels are all about the same with guides, game discussion, debates on builds, etc
I only use Discord for my Wow guild stuff every so often.
I have read (not experienced) the way they are doing this:
Sponsored game events and tie-ins. Participating in the event is called a “quest” - basically a fancy gamer-specific way of calling it voluntary opt-in.
You accept the “quest”, get invited to the game event stream and channel. You complete quests by streaming your own gaming or participating in channels and whatnot.
This doesn’t sound horrible. On paper at least.