Ad Tech

Development of new metaverse/web3 ad networks

Article Ad Tech
4 min
Development of new metaverse/web3 ad networks

Giants are wobbling

“The AI War” has spread over the media horizon like wildfire. Everyone is talking about it. But the ongoing battle uncovered another truth: giants may wield all the power, but they make the silliest mistakes.

All eyes are on Google. The name has been coming up disturbingly often lately: the failure of its AI project (corporate AI), the inelegant and nervous attempts at defending their dominant position in advertising (ad monopoly), and its bigot practices when it comes to web3 (blanket black-listing of any cryptocurrency-related advertising, while accepting fraud ads).

And this is nothing new – it’s how the history goes, usually: 

  1. There’s an underdog innovator – vide Google search engine 

  1. Then they become the “market leader” 

  1. Then they become the tyrant 

  1. Then come alternatives 

  1. Then tyrants start to buy out or destroy the competition 

  1. Then, there are enough alternatives to tip the scales 

You see, every revolution is a question of reaching the tipping point. And we seem to be reaching one just now.

Small fish need to hunt in a pack

First blockchain, now AI – are changing the global power structure.

With blockchain came “money for all people”.

Today, AI is driving “content for all people”.

And it’s easier than ever before for the regular folk to start seeing beyond “powers that be” and seek alternatives. But the alternative systems need to build scale and momentum in order to start being a threat – or being attractive as an alternative.  

As cliché as it sounds, we are “StrongerTogether”.

Small advertising networks are just that – small. And in a world, where nearly every marketer is interested in “scale” and reach – how do we even start convincing them to use a smaller network?

How to build enough influence to become a viable alternative?

That is exactly why ADSHARES decided to go one level below the floor – and devise a system which could reconnect the world of digital advertising over blockchain.

Smaller, independent or even individual publishers and advertising networks can now join a new system and standard, without leaving their current ad provider. The ADSHARES data protocol works a lot like an open bidding protocol (RTB), and an advertising network (think AdSense) – just with the added layer of blockchain. And the blockchain is essentially an automated and transparent payment system which guarantees no double spending, fraud or ubiquitous abuse.

web2

web3
Private Public
Centralized Decentralized
One authority Many validators
Censored Community-regulated
High cost No cost
Opaque, unclear Transparent, open source
Person-governed  People-governed
Brand unsafe Brand safe

As far as mid-2022, we still believed that it’s going to be hard for independent ad networks to threaten Google’s position. I mean, why even bother seeking alternatives when Google lets you reach 80% of any given population? When we were talking about how blockchain could change the advertising industry – people were more interested in the shiny world of the Metaverse.

Now, when we are talking about how blockchain could change the advertising industry – people are more interested in making content creators’ lives easier with ChatGPT and Midjourney. But while everybody is brainstorming, how blockchain or AI can change advertising quality – nobody seems bothered to ask, how can we heal this industry?

Building critical mass

And, as history would often have it – he giants will not see the threat until it’s too late. Independent, yet interconnected advertising networks start to sprawl in the ADSHARES ecosystem.

  • Data unions, allowing users to monetize their attention and user data. 

  • Segmentation and targeting apps, using the blockchain data to build more accurate customer profiles. 

  • New systems for collecting ad user data (think “Facebook conversion pixel – cubed”). 

Let’s look at some of the current examples of ad networks built on, or using the ADSHARES protocol.

Swash – the first data union on blockchain 

SWASH claims to be “the biggest and first data union ever built” – it is an innovative platform, created to put the control back into consumers’ hands. Swash uses consent to display highly targeted and relevant ads in its private advertising network, built on the ADSHARES backbone. With 7K users and 5.7 million ad impressions already – it’s a growing alternative for consumers, and brands.

web3ads – a public access ad network expanded with elements of a marketing agency

web3ads is an ad network of more than 160 advertising lands in Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, PolkaCity – with a growing number of new metaverses and websites. What started as a proof-of-concept, ended up being the largest ad network in Decentraland, serving 34.5M ad impressions in the Metaverse and Web3 sites.

This year web3ads decided to expand its offerings in Decentraland. In order to meet the needs of advertisers, they started offering services like:

  • events
  • wearables/avatars/emotes
  • 3D architecture/models
  • gamification
  • advertising*

*still as a core business in metaverse.

Detailed offer you can find here.

Metaverse Architects – full service for the Metaverse era

Metaverse Architects – a renowned architecture studio, has been one of the first mover in the Metavere space. A year later, the company operates its own ad network on dozens of custom-built lands, offering their clients much more than just “a house in a computer”.

So, while “Decentraland population” may not be an attractive demographic or volume for a big advertiser – the “web3 ad networks” are starting to offer real value for all – the Advertisers, the Publishers, and the Consumer.

Because the industry seems to have forgotten – it‘s the consumer, stupid.