5 posts
spotify Our Multi-Agent Architecture for Smarter Advertising Introduction When we kicked this off, we weren’t trying to ship an “AI feature.” We were trying to fix a structural problem in how our ads business actually runs in software. On the business side, we have multiple ways of buyi…
toss Toss designer Lee Hyeon-jeong argues that business goals and user experience are not mutually exclusive, even when integrating controversial elements like advertising. By identifying the intersection between monetization and usability, her team transformed intrusive ads into value-driven features that maintain user trust while driving significant revenue. The ultimate conclusion is that transparency and appropriate rewards can mitigate negative feedback and even increase user engagement. ### Reducing Friction through Predictability and Placement * Addressed "surprise" ads by introducing clear labeling, such as "Watch Ad" buttons or specifying ad durations (e.g., "30-second ad"), which reduced negative sentiment without decreasing revenue. * Discovered that when users are given a choice and clear expectations, their anxiety decreases and their willingness to engage with the content increases. * Eliminated "flow-breaking" ads that mimicked functional UI elements, such as banners placed inside transaction histories that users frequently mistook for personal bank records. * Established a design principle to place advertisements only in areas that do not interfere with information discovery or core user navigation tasks. ### Transforming Advertisements into User Benefits * Developed a dedicated B2B ad platform to scale the variety of available advertisements, ensuring that users receive ads relevant to their specific life stages, such as car insurance or new credit cards. * Shifted the internal perception of ads from "noise" to "benefits" by focusing on the right timing and high-quality matching between the advertiser and the user's needs. * Institutionalized regular "creative ideation sessions" to explore interactive formats, including advertisements that respond to phone movement (gyroscope), quizzes, and mini-games. * Leveraged long-term internal experiments to ensure that even if an idea cannot be implemented immediately, it remains in the team's "creative bank" for future product opportunities. ### Optimizing Value Exchange through Rewards * Conducted over a year of A/B testing on reward thresholds, comparing small cash amounts (1 KRW to 200 KRW), non-monetary items (gifticons), and high-stakes lottery-style prizes. * Analyzed the "labor intensity" of ads by adjusting lengths (10 to 30 seconds) to find the psychological tipping point where users felt the reward was worth their time. * Implemented a high-value lottery system within the Toss Pedometer service, which successfully transitioned a loss-making feature into a profitable revenue stream. * Maintained user activity and satisfaction levels despite the increased presence of ads by ensuring the "worst-case experience"—viewing ads for no gain—was entirely avoided. Product teams should stop viewing business requirements and UX as a zero-sum game. By focusing on user psychology—specifically transparency, non-disruption, and fair value exchange—it is possible to achieve aggressive business targets while maintaining a sustainable and trusted user environment.
discord Discord's debut at the Cannes Lions festival marks a significant strategic milestone in the expansion of its advertising business and brand partnership ecosystem. By championing an opt-in, community-first model, the platform aims to redefine how advertisers engage with a digital-native audience that prioritizes privacy and authentic interaction. The central conclusion from their industry showcase is that gaming has moved into the cultural mainstream, positioning Discord as the primary hub for audience influence and peer-to-peer communication. ### Strategic Advertising and Industry Partnerships * Discord is actively scaling its ad business by moving away from traditional intrusive formats toward a model based on user consent and community integration. * High-level panels featuring leadership from Xbox, Kantar, and Unilever underscore Discord's growing legitimacy as a critical platform for global brand strategy. * The platform’s evolution focuses on providing businesses with measurable opportunities to connect with high-intent users within their own social environments. ### The Mainstreaming of Gaming Communities * Gaming has transcended its niche origins to become a dominant cultural force, requiring brands to adapt to new methods of digital social interaction. * Discord serves as the "digital third place" where modern gamers talk, share content, and influence one another’s purchasing decisions in real-time. * The community-first approach allows brands to move past broad-reach tactics and instead foster deeper, more meaningful connections within specific interest groups. To effectively reach modern gaming audiences, brands should transition from traditional broadcast advertising toward community-centric engagement. Leveraging Discord’s opt-in framework allows companies to build long-term loyalty by participating in the authentic conversations already happening within these influential digital spaces.
discord Discord is leveraging its massive community of over 200 million monthly active users to solve the persistent challenge of game discovery for developers. By analyzing engagement data across thousands of titles, the platform has identified a unique "long-tail" trend where niche games receive higher relative playtime compared to the broader industry. To capitalize on this, Discord has introduced Quests, a rewarded ad format designed to connect players with new titles through authentic, community-centric experiences. ### Discord’s Gaming Ecosystem and User Engagement * The platform currently supports over 200 million monthly active users who use the service as a primary social hub for gaming. * Monthly gameplay exceeds 1.5 billion hours across more than 8,000 different titles on PC alone. * Discord facilitates a higher percentage of playtime for a diverse "long-tail" of games than is typically seen in the wider gaming market. * The platform serves as a critical environment for developers to reach specific audiences that are already highly engaged with digital social interaction. ### Quests and the Rewarded Ad Model * Quests represent a strategic shift toward helping brands and developers reach players through an innovative rewarded ad format. * The system is built to be "player-centric," offering rewards to users for engaging with specific game content. * By integrating advertising directly into the social ecosystem, Discord aims to facilitate game discovery in a way that feels natural rather than intrusive. * This format provides a bridge between developer marketing needs and the authentic social behavior of the Discord community. For developers and brands, the launch of Quests offers a high-precision tool for navigating a crowded gaming market. By utilizing Discord’s infrastructure to reach players where they are already socially active, creators can tap into a massive, pre-existing audience to drive title awareness and long-term engagement.
discord Discord is set to expand its rewarded advertising ecosystem to mobile devices with the pilot launch of Video Quests on Mobile in June 2025. This strategic evolution aims to connect advertisers with Discord’s 200 million monthly active users across platforms, leveraging a full-screen, opt-in format designed specifically for brand awareness. By transitioning these advertising tools to mobile, Discord provides a performance-driven channel for partners to engage a highly active community through high-quality video content and incentivized rewards. ### Mobile Integration and the 2025 Pilot * The initial pilot program for Video Quests on Mobile is scheduled to begin in June 2025. * The format utilizes a full-screen, premium user interface tailored for mobile consumption while maintaining Discord’s commitment to opt-in, non-intrusive advertising. * This expansion marks Discord’s first mobile-specific ad offering, targeting a cross-platform audience that spans PC, mobile, and native console integrations. ### Evolution of the Quests Framework * Discord currently offers two primary rewarded formats: Video Quests for awareness (trailers and announcements) and Play Quests for engagement (requiring users to play or stream a game). * The platform has shifted from a gaming-exclusive focus to a broader Media and Entertainment strategy, catering to diverse brand partners including streaming services and movie studios. * Play Quests generate authentic connections by rewarding players with exclusive in-game items for meeting specific gameplay or streaming milestones. ### Proven Campaign Performance and Metrics * **miHoYo (Genshin Impact):** Utilizing high-value in-game rewards through Play Quests, the developer saw an 80% increase in playtime during the campaign week. * **Max (Dune: Prophecy):** The first-ever Video Quest featured a long-form trailer (2:38) that achieved a significantly high completion rate of 85%. * **Nexon Games (The First Descendant):** A Video Quest campaign generated over 1 million completions, with 10% of that engagement occurring organically through peer-to-peer sharing. ### Strategic Outlook for Advertisers Brands and developers looking to capitalize on this expansion should consider participating in the June pilot to secure early access to the mobile player community. This format is particularly recommended for titles launching new updates, downloadable content (DLC), or major media premieres where high-impact video awareness is a primary objective.