Good morning: Searching for the metaverse

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Good morning, Marketers, and if you’re searching for signs of the metaverse, try dollar signs.

Many searchers are making that leap, it seems, specifically with big videogame plays. Are they metaverse plays?

Game publisher SolitaireBliss analyzed Google search data and found that online searches for “sony metaverse” spiked 685% on April 12, a day after Epic Games announced they’d raised a cool $2 billion in investment from Sony and others.

The LEGO Group’s holding company KIRKBI was also in on the play, so naturally “lego metaverse” was another popular search (up 229% on 4/12), as was “epic games metaverse” (up 384% on the same day).

There was a lot of metaverse talk among the gaming and advertising people at IAB’s Playfronts last week in New York. The money and attention in gaming isn’t just about in-game ads, but evolving metaverse experiences. At least, that’s what these recent dollar signs are pointing to.

Chris Wood,

Editor

What we’re reading. It’s been a year since Apple’s ad identity overhaul, and maybe it’s seemed longer than that. Identity company Lotame updated its estimates on the changes’ impact on the rest of the mobile industry. A year ago, Lotame estimated the impact would cost the likes of Twitter, Snap and YouTube close to $10 billion, with Facebook/Meta shouldering most of the burden. Now the estimated revenue hit is approaching $16B. Breakdown by platform and comments here.