Roblox Betrays 85 Million Users with Google Ad Invasion—Shares Soar...

Roblox just did what every platform pretending not to be an ad company eventually does: it stopped pretending. The company announced the rollout of Rewarded Video ads—a.k.a. The kind where users watch a “totally immersive” video in exchange for in-game currency or perks—and oh, it’s doing it through Google. Shares soared north of 4% on the news, because if you’re going to sell out, you might as well sell out at scale.

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In short, Roblox, which has spent years monetizing mostly through virtual items and developer revenue splits, is finally tapping into the one thing more lucrative than digital swords: ad dollars. Specifically, it’s opening up its 85 million daily active users—most of whom are Gen Z and younger—to programmatic advertisers via Google Ad Manager. That means brands can now shove their marketing into Roblox’s pixelated universe without having to build bespoke campaigns or develop loyalty with 12-year-olds who think Fortnite is for boomers.

However, Rewarded Video ads are just the beginning. Roblox is also planning to roll out more formats—video billboards inside games, image ads, all of it plugged into Google’s vast adtech ecosystem. For advertisers, this is a goldmine. For Roblox, it’s a long-overdue pivot. And for users? It’s the same game, now with more thinly veiled monetization baked into the experience.

(Source: Investing.com) 

To be fair though, it’s not like Roblox hasn’t been quietly laying the groundwork for this. They hired Louqman Parampath (ex-Roku) to head up ad strategy, partnered with every measurement firm that sounds like it belongs in a Black Mirror episode—DoubleVerify, Nielsen, Cint—and finally figured out how to make brands feel comfortable throwing money at a platform where most users still think “taxes” are fictional.

Plus, the timing itself is definitely not accidental. Roblox's revenue has been growing, but it’s still bleeding cash and needs to diversify fast. The company pulled in $9.1 million in ad revenue last year—lame—but if this rollout works, that number could balloon. Google’s early tests showed over 80% ad completion rates, which is basically unheard of in an industry where people skip ads faster than they close cookie banners.

(Source: Giphy) 

Now with that said, is this about new revenue streams? Absolutely. But it’s just about money as it is legitimacy. Roblox wants to be taken seriously—not just as a game engine whose audience is primarily filled with individuals who can’t be within 1,000 feet of a playground. Yes, really. But alas, aligning with Google, the king of selling your attention to the highest bidder, sends a very clear message: we’re not just here to entertain your kid—we’re here to monetize the sh*t out of them.

So yeah, if you thought Roblox was just a place for people to roleplay as anime wolves or build janky obbies, you’re about to see a very different side of the platform. The ad side. The scalable, measurable, brand-marketing side. And if it works, every other gaming platform still pretending ads “ruin immersion” is going to follow suit. Because nothing ruins immersion like a lack of revenue. For now, keep your eyes on the platform, and place your bets accordingly. As always, stay safe and stay frosty, friends! Until next time… 

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Stocks.News holds positions in Google as mentioned in the article.