China’s Tencent will seamlessly embed video ads directly into movies

It’s quite common to see ads that interrupt your videos mid-stream on the web. However, Chinese tech giant Tencent is trying something different – embedding the ad into an object right within the video you’re watching.

For instance, if an actor is holding a cup of coffee, you’ll see an ad on the cup. Check out the mindblowing video below posted by Matthew Brannan,an analyst who focuses on Chinese companies.

Wow! Worth watching this. China's largest video platform #Tencentvideo (97M paying China subscribers) will begin inserting extra ads into movies/series that didn't exist in the original. #computervision pic.twitter.com/qltsQz9jdF

— Matthew Brennan (@mbrennanchina) October 15, 2019

Tencent has partnered with a computer vision and AI company Mirriad to execute this project. The company says it will be able to deliver ads without interrupting the viewing experience.

For now, Tencent will test this out on its own video platform. However, if this experiment is successful, more video platforms might be eager to adopt the new tech. It’s not clear at the moment if these ads are clickable. We’ve contacted Mirriad for more details, and we’ll update the story if we hear back.

As Brennan rightly pointed out in a tweet, ad blockers will have a tough time catching and blocking these ads. Be prepared to see a lot of  hidden brand partnerships in movies in the near future.