According to sources familiar with the company’s plans, Discord, the social media platform for gamers, is purportedly gearing up to introduce advertisements, a departure from its previous stance of shunning them.
Reportedly, these ads will debut on Discord’s free platform this week, as per The Wall Street Journal.
The advertisements, sourced from video game companies, are expected to entice users with incentives for completing in-game tasks. Discord is reportedly planning to expand its workforce by recruiting over a dozen ad sales professionals to facilitate this initiative. Additionally, the company has indicated that users will have the option to disable these ads through their settings.
As per the report, this is a major change for Discord since the platform along with its CEO Jason Citron has repeatedly dismissed the idea of relying on ads similar to other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and many others.
A spokesperson for Discord has affirmed that the company’s statements as reported by WSJ are indeed accurate.
This development occurs amidst a trend where numerous online services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Paramount+, are incorporating ad-supported tiers to bolster their revenue streams and engage with consumers who may not opt for premium, ad-free subscriptions.
Similar ad models have proven to be successful for social media platforms including TikTok with users frequently making purchases directly through social media, resulting in high conversion rates. The same goes for Facebook and Instagram where people are making purchases based on discoveries made through the platform.
Instagram is currently the preferred platform when it comes to selling ads, with 47% of consumers finding clothes through the social media app in 30 days before being surveyed.
