Posted by Aayush Upadhyay and Neel Rao, Area 120
At Area 120 , Google's internal workshop
for experimental ideas, we're working on early-stage projects and quickly
iterate to test concepts. We heard from developers that they're looking at how
to make money to fund their VR applications, so we started experimenting with
what a native, mobile VR ad format might look like.
Developers and users have told us they want to avoid disruptive,
hard-to-implement ad experiences in VR. So our first idea for a potential format
presents a cube to users, with the option to engage with it and then see a video
ad. By tapping on the cube or gazing at it for a few seconds, the cube opens a
video player where the user can watch, and then easily close, the video. Here's
how it works:
Our work focuses on a few key principles - VR ad formats should be easy for
developers to implement, native to VR, flexible enough to customize, and useful
and non-intrusive for users. Our Area 120 team has seen some encouraging results
with a few test partners, and would love to work with the developer community as
this work evolves - across Cardboard (on Android and iOS), Daydream and Samsung
Gear VR.
If you're a VR developer (or want to be one) and are interested in testing this
format with us, please fill out this form to apply for our
early access program. We have an early-stage SDK available and you can get up
and running easily. We're excited to continue experimenting with this format and
hope you'll join us for the ride!
