[DAO:7dab464] Resubmission: Advertising Platform

Governance
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by 0x52af362deb54513904a324f7ab8eabfe309c7cff (MetAds)

Should the following $84,470 grant in the Platform category be approved?

Abstract

Our project introduces a specialized ad platform for Decentraland, offering exclusive open-source code distribution, intelligent ad placement, geolocation targeting, and comprehensive data analysis. This benefits landlords with new monetization opportunities, users with immersive experiences, and advertisers with brand exposure and sales.
click here: » Full proposal Decentraland Ads «

Grant size

84,470 USD in DAI

Project duration

6 months

Beneficiary address

0x52Af362DEB54513904a324F7aB8EaBFE309C7CFF

Email address

nik@metaads.team

Description

Meta Ads: Current Capabilities and Future Developments

  • Marketplace: Facilitates direct transactions, ensuring transparency and efficiency.
  • Landowners Cabinet: Offers tools and analytics for managing ad inventory.
  • Advertisers Cabinet: Allows campaign customization and provides detailed analytics.
  • Onchain & Offchain Analytics: Harnesses blockchain data to tailor advertising, assessing metrics like wallet transactions, geolocation, and NFT ownership to align ads with user behavior and interests.
  • CJM & Heatmaps: Utilize 2D and 3D heat maps to analyze user activity, optimize scene engagement, and pinpoint optimal ad placement.
  • Digital Signage: Automate content schedule with flexible rules.

Test the platform: » Meta Ads platform «

Upcoming Enhancements:

  • Simplification of CPM/CPC Model: Refine the model for ease of use.
  • Clever Wallet Integration: Improve payment options to include cryptocurrencies and fiat.

Further Information:

For more details on these upcoming features, click the link below:
» Full proposal Decentraland Ads «

Roadmap and milestones

1. Development of CPM/CPC and payment system integration. From May 15 to July 15, 2024. (2 month)

  • CPM/CPC System Design. | start to work+delivery
  • CPM/CPC Functionality development. | start to work+delivery
  • Payment system integration. | start to work+delivery
  • Developing a universal sales offer for Demand Side Platform (DSP) suppliers. | start to work

2. Final touches on the code, Pilot Launch and Feedback Collection. From July 16 to August 16, 2024. (1 month)

  • Final touches on the code. | start to work+delivery
  • Merging code with an existing solution. | start to work+delivery
  • Pilot Launch for Decentraland community. | start to work+delivery
  • Feedback Collection. | start to work+delivery
  • Developing a universal sales offer for DSP suppliers. | delivery
  • Negotiating with DSP suppliers. | start to work

3. Optimization and Scaling. DPS and advertisers’ contract signage. From August 17 to October 17, 2024. (2 month)

  • Minor updates according to community feedback. | start to work+delivery
  • Fully operational platform self-advertising platform. | delivery
  • Сommunity and landowners’ support on the use of the platform. | start to work+delivery
  • Signing contracts with DSPs and advertisers. | start to work+delivery
  • Expanding Decentraland coverage. | start to work+delivery
  • Launching automated advertising based on CPM/CPC models. | start to work

4. Wide release and overall summary. October 17 to November 18, 2024.

  • Signing contracts with DSPs and advertisers. | start to work+delivery
  • Launching automated advertising based on CPM/CPC models. | delivery
  • Benchmarking work. | start to work+delivery
  • Supporting advertisers. | start to work+delivery

5. Maintenance Stage: Ongoing updates, bug fixes, and new features starting from November 19, 2024, onwards.

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO

View this proposal on Snapshot

1 Like
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Many Decentraland landlords asked us to reapply with our proposal. And I prepared final answers and made some further adjustments from previous questions

  1. To a question from HPrivacos about non-existent interfaces and fake technology:
    I have prepared some videos that show the interfaces and how the platform works, which you can read here:
External Image
External Image

I would also like to remind you that the platform can be tested on our official website:

  1. To the point that our adviser Carl Fravel voted in favor of our grant and he is the beneficiary. Carl will abstain from voting. I also want to emphasize the point that our team has no connection with scamming or budget dumping. We are NOT members of cartels or any other Decentraland political organizations.

  2. Returning to the issue of Decentraland’s small audience. Yes, indeed, there is not much traffic in Decentraland now, but it is there. And having this traffic, you can start earning on it. We truly believe that this traffic will grow over time. And the addition of a convenient tool to place advertising campaigns across Decentraland will attract brands and allow them to advertise their events, worlds and locations.
    A prime example of this is Decentraland jobs, which has allowed creators and studios to receive development orders directly. This has been a great tool and has served to grow the Decentraland community

  3. Regarding the issue of bad timing. I think the timing couldn’t be better. Now many publishers have become more active and are actively considering in-game advertising tools. So starting the process now is a very opportune moment.

  4. Regarding the person who voted 8.5 m VP and commented on their decision “Vote is too close; offsetting last-minute voters”. I looked at this person’s profile and he is not a landowner. He owns a lot of Mana. So we as a team would like to hear more detailed feedback from him as to why he thinks our proposal has no place in the Decentraland ecosystem. This will allow us to either fix our product for the better or understand the reason in more detail.

Our business model doesn’t depend on this grant. The reason why we are seeking this grant is to create a relationship with the community and DAO that provides DAO with income.

Hopefully, I have answered all the questions from the DAO community which is why I have now organized a resubmission of this proposal.

Thank you

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That’s an expensive relationship :slight_smile:

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Although the current efforts, design and business model of MetaAds described in the proposal is applaudable and impactful, (as well as it being an open-source solution with useful dashboard analytics & 17% monetization to the DAO), I will have to vote NO due to the Timing and low chance of this being used by majority landowners/advertisers. It simply does not make sense disbursing DAO funds for this AT THIS MOMENT.

I appreciate you taking the time to reply to the community concerns. The last “successful” advertising platform I’ve heard of and used (Metaviu), reminds me of this, and unfortunately I haven’t seen many ads by them lately, yet their billboards have been minted and are stationed at many prominent locations. I also believe there are other duplicative platforms made to track aspects of scene analytics, such as Atlas, VLM Manager, DCL Connect, DG Live, etc.

Nothing against your product at all, it is just an unnecessary spend for 2024.

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Hi @HPrivakos ,

Thank you for your comment. I understand your concerns about the cost of our proposal, but allow me to outline the broader vision of our project and the potential benefits it could bring to the entire Decentraland community.

We are developing Meta Ads - an open source platform for AR/VR/MR environments that provides analytics and monetisation tools to enhance the interaction between content creators and their audiences. Our product includes the following features:

Real-time analytics: The platform uses AI-driven data analytics to provide creators and advertisers with deep insights into user behaviour and preferences.

Monetisation tools: We offer powerful monetisation options that enable creators to generate revenue within their virtual environments. This includes integrated advertising solutions that are non-intrusive and contextually relevant to the user experience.

Innovative advertising formats: Our platform is dedicated to developing new forms of advertising specifically designed for AR, VR and MR environments.

An example of a successful implementation of such a system is the Roblox Ads Manager https://create.roblox.com/docs/production/promotion/ads-manager, a self-service tool that allows game creators and content developers to easily manage their advertising campaigns within the platform. This system ensures effective interaction between advertisers and audiences, increasing revenue and improving the user experience.

Similarly, Meta Ads will provide not only the open source code of these solutions to the Decentraland ecosystem, but also the resources of two teams: the developers and the Sales & BizDev team for successful project implementation. (Successful implementation means advertising revenue for DAO and landowners).

I hope this explanation helps you understand the scope and importance of our project for Decentraland.

You think our financial requirements are too high. May I know what specific aspects or costs you are concerned about? Our financial proposal is based on real calculations of the resources needed to develop, test and implement the platform, as well as the work of the team that could ensure increased revenues for landowners, the DAO and the community as a whole.

We have already answered all your previous questions:

Doubts about the reality of the technology: We have provided video demonstrations that confirm the reality and functionality of our interfaces.

Inefficiency of existing platforms: We offer not only open source, but also developer and sales & BizDev teams that will make this project self-sustaining and profitable.

Timing and general demand: Our project is not only aimed at monetisation, but also at stimulating the growth of the community by attracting brands and advertisers.

Transparency and Conflict of Interest: We have confirmed the neutrality and transparency of all project participants, including our consultants.

We propose organizing an AMA session within a Decentraland town hall to discuss all aspects of the project openly and substantively. This will allow all community members to ask questions and express their opinions.

Do you think this approach would be productive for discussing and evaluating the project?

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I appreciate you taking the time to reply to the community concerns. The last “successful” advertising platform I’ve heard of and used (Metaviu), reminds me of this, and unfortunately I haven’t seen many ads by them lately, yet their billboards have been minted and are stationed at many prominent locations. I also believe there are other duplicative platforms made to track aspects of scene analytics, such as Atlas, VLM Manager, DCL Connect, DG Live, etc.

Nothing against your product at all, it is just an unnecessary spend for 2024.
[/quote

@maryana Thank you for your detailed comment.

Metaviu is indeed a good company with a solid external advertising solution. However, it isn’t integrated directly into the Decentraland interface, and only Metaviu founders can control its revenue.

As for Atlas, it provides analytics, but not specialized advertising analytics.

Virtual Land Manager (VLM): a tool for real-time management of virtual scenes and access.
DCL Connect: CMS platform to simplify the management of NFT events and galleries in Decentraland.
DG Live: A platform for organising and broadcasting live events.

While the above elements solve problems and simplify processes, they are not part of a single mechanism for managing and monetising all types of virtual spaces.

We propose to develop a comprehensive solution and assign a team responsible for its implementation and support.

You mentioned concerns about the timing and doubt that the majority of landowners will use this solution. As I discussed in response to @HPrivakos , implementing such a system is a substantial endeavor, and our team is prepared to undertake it. Speeding up this process is challenging and likely unachievable by others at this time.

Firstly, may I ask if you are a landowner yourself? What is your reach and traffic volume?

As suggested earlier to @HPrivakos , let’s organize an AMA session within a Decentraland town hall. We can ask all landowners if they are interested in generating additional revenue and also query all DAO participants about the need for new financial sources for the fund.

Let’s meet at the AMA, what do you say? We can address concerns about demand, the ineffectiveness of previous platforms, how much this should cost Decentraland, appropriate timelines, and success metrics together.

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This platform has honestly no reason to be open sourced. It’s fine to keep it as a closed source project to run your business with it.

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We chose open source for our AR/VR/MR platform to encourage innovation, the immersive media market is growing very fast and open source is our growth strategy that differentiates us from our competitors.

As far as the business model is concerned, enterprise subscriptions do not apply to Decentraland. We’re a young startup and it’s very important to work with our early users to improve the product.

We also generate revenue from DSP integrations and work with the immersive advertising market.

Go AMA? Let’s discuss all questions, let’s collaborate!

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Fully agree with @maryana about “it is just an unnecessary spend for 2024”

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Appreciate and agree with @maryana sentiment here. Voting NO and until we have a more robust and livelier platform which I truly believe is coming soon, I don’t have a vision of voting yes to this type of request but thank you for submitting,
Jenn

1 Like
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Voting no for the same reason I voted last time. No drainers, plz!

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Resubmission: Advertising Platform

This proposal is now in status: PASSED.

Voting Results:

  • Yes 54% 6,267,275 VP (34 votes)
  • No 45% 5,189,944 VP (34 votes)
  • Abstain 1% 257 VP (3 votes)
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This is abhorrible and there has been no reply from the DAO drainers for 13 days because I am sure some backhanded deal was already agreed on. This should go straight to Revocation!!

1 Like
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This isn’t a valid use of the Platform Category, and shouldn’t need to be revoked since there is no logical reason for it to be honored.

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Hello, Community!

The Grant Support Squad was created to support the grantees in achieving their goals and take care of the DAO treasury.

The grantee requested a Grant under the Platform Category. However, according to the full proposal linked: Decentraland final proposal - Google Docs, this project should have requested funds under the Accelerator category. So, we recommend revoking the vesting contract and encouraging the grantee to summit when the correct category has funds.

The Platform category, as it is written in the documentation of the grants program, says: “Platform grantees create tools and applications that extend the power of the Decentraland platform or provide alternative ways to explore Decentraland’s ecosystem”. However, this project is a private company that wants to provide its tools for revenue (quote) “Revenue distribution: 80% to landlords, 17% to DAO, 3% to the project team.

Also, this category has a hard requirement. The project should be open source. And the company said that the backend of the code will not be open (quote): “ The development of the platform has been two years in the making, and the team is currently focused on finalizing the CPM and CPC models, as well as providing support for the platform. Distribution of the scene client will be open source, and the backend cloud services will be done in an open-core format, which guarantees that the resource will remain in the Decentraland metaverse. In case of any unforeseen circumstances in the Meta Ads team due to which we will not be able to maintain the code, we will change the backend cloud services distribution format to an inclusive open-source code format for Decentraland.”

There is no doubt that the project could be a good opportunity for the DAO to think about how to include ads in the ecosystem, but the Grants program (for now) only funds projects that can increase the feasibility, performance of the main code and the platform, and tools to navigate the client, not private companies to get revenue.

In conclusion, a private company requested funds for their platform, promising revenue, and the code will not be 100% open source. This means that the project has not fulfilled the Platform requirements seated.

We recommend to the Revocations Committee not to request to create a vesting contract for this project. As a preventive, we request that the DAO Committee not enact the vesting contract or enact it but pause it (this second option will cost more in swapping mana for DAI).
Regards,
GSS

cc: (@Nik @MrV / @fifitango @maryana @dax @bay @MetaDogeisme @rizk @HPrivakos @Tobik )

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VLM does also offer analytics geared toward event attendance and rewards distribution, although it’s admittedly a bit of a secondary feature of the platform.

I’ve thought about adding the ability to place and sell advertisements into this platform as well, but came to the same conclusion as @maryana - that it just wouldn’t be utilized enough to justify the development efforts at this time.

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https://snapshot.org/#/revocationscommittee.eth/proposal/0x3cfbb393d471eeb5a2ed5242494037cfe36550b85ba1cc77d6289c61d97ca235

Heyy @Unknower I think this one is already getting revoked I checked the RC DAO.

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Hi Community, @Zino, @Nik

Our team, the Revocation Committee received a request from the Grant Support Squad to discuss this case and make a decision in regards to the following proposal

Resubmission: Advertising Platform

As a result of discussion and the final vote, we suggest that this grant should be REVOKED (@HPrivakos @Tobik @rizk).

Voting Members:
@dax @maryana @bay

Revocation Committee snapshot vote result:

SNAPSHOT LINK

Reasoning for revocation:

The points for revocation made by the GSS are as follows:

  1. Grantee submitted the proposal under an incorrect category (Platform). Based on the details of the proposal, the project is better suited under the Accelerator category, as it is funding a private company, and proposes to give a percentage of revenue to the DAO.
  2. The platform category has a hard requirement that the project should be open-source, however the company said that the client will be open-source, but the back-end of the project will be open-core, not open-source.

Further recommendations:

We recommend that the grantee to either 1) review the open-source requirements of the “Platform” category or 2) resubmit the proposal under the Accelerator Category.

Thank you!
Revocation Committee

3 Likes