RICOH 360 Ad Service Shows 1.5x to 2x Click-Through Compared to Normal Ads

[codetricity]

I was reading Japanese news when I found this article on CNET Japan that describes the new service RICOH 360 for Ad. This service was launched in Japan in March of this year.

The most interesting part of the article for me was that the click-through rate of 360 images is 1.5x to 2x the click-through rate of standard image advertisements.

One of the benefits of a still image is that the file size is smaller compared to a video, providing a better user experience. There is also a lower burden on the server to display an image compared to a video. The advertising effectiveness is similar to a video, but with lower server and browser impact.

The system automatically displays the portion of the image that is most appealing to the viewer.

This article from Impress indicates that Ricoh is also using AI to automatically choose the most effective parts of the 360 image for advertising. We’re generally referring to this type of AI as machine learning in Silicon Valley now days.

[jcasman]

Automatically choosing initial Orientation would be a slick feature - if it somehow works right.

[codetricity]

It appears that the image initially starts rotating horizontally, but then records clicks and viewing behavior of the people viewing the image. It then appears to automatically adjust the viewing position of the ad based on what the audience is most interested in.

You can see their site here

The most fascinating part for me is the increase in click-through rate of 1.5 to 2x. The cost per click is reduced by 10-20%. There’s an error in the machine translation below. The Japanese says 10-20% and the machine translation didn’t catch that.

The primary markets they list are:

• real estate
• travel
• education (to show facilities to potential students)

Japanese site with machine translation.